Crease to corner office

HIS SECOND INNINGS BLENDS BOARDROOM HEFT WITH THE LESSONS OF A CAREER CUT SHORT

- FE BUREAU

WHEN ARYAMAN BIRLA walked away from professional cricket in 2019, he did so with a candour rare in Indian sport.

At 22, he spoke openly of “severe anxiety”, choosing to step off a path that had demanded years of discipline and promise. Nearly seven years later, that decision—once seen as a retreat—now reads more like a pivot.

Today, as he steps into a high-visibility leadership role following the acquisition of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), it marks the beginning of a very different second innings.

Birla’s early years were shaped as much by intent as inheritance. At 17, he left Mumbai for Madhya Pradesh to pursue cricket seriously—an unusual move for someone from one of India’s most prominent business families.

He trained in England with West Hampstead Cricket Club and under former Middlesex cricketer Paul Weekes, before making his first-class debut in the Ranji Trophy in 2017.