Virat Kohli (center) will lead the Blue Rising Team in next year’s inaugural E1 season. (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Virat Kohli, the Indian cricket star, has been announced as a team owner for the inaugural season of the all-electric powerboating E1 World Championship in 2024.

Kohli, the former captain of the Indian cricket team, will lead the Blue Rising Team, named to draw attention to marine conservation and celebrate the color of India’s sports teams, as a team principal alongside sports technology entrepreneur and League Sports Co. (LSC) founder Adi K. Mishra.

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LSC is a sports technology holding company that owns and operates sports teams gaming businesses, and brands including the World Bowling League.

Mishra said: “We are excited to partner with one of the best athletes of our generation and the firm has already brought insightful conversations with brands that share our combined values with the E1 World Championship of sustainability and gender inclusion.

“We are keen to explore partnerships with the E1 World Championship and some of the other team owners with the World Bowling League in order to elevate both sports.”

Other E1 teams confirmed so far are owned by the likes of American football’s Tom Brady, soccer’s Didier Drogba, Formula 1’s Sergio Perez, tennis star Rafael Nadal, and US music producer Steve Aoki, with E1 using celebrity involvement as a means of driving interest in the series.

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E1 is a sister competition of motor racing’s Formula E and Extreme E, and its inaugural season, set to begin next January, will see up to 10 teams and 20 mixed-gendered pilots racing on the water in iconic cities around the world.

The racing format will see teams of male and female pilots compete head-to-head in knockout heats, with the winners continuing to progress to a four-team final. The opening E1 season’s races will be split between Europe and the Middle East, with the plan for seasons two and three to begin expanding into the Americas, Asia, and Australasia.

Rupert Hunter discusses the strategy for the launch and growth of the E1 Series.