By all accounts, the plush blue sofa was specially placed on the ground whenever there was a match played by five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians in the 2025 edition of the tournament. Newspaper reports have reverentially and repeatedly described it as the ‘customary sofa’ arranged specially for the MI owners, mother-son duo of Nita and Akash Ambani. But nobody seems to have objected to the ‘special arrangement’ until Mumbai Indians were eliminated by Punjab Kings on 31 May.
What began as a meme-fest thanks to the cold, hard stare that Nita Ambani gave her son and her many expressions of despair, soon developed into questioning the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) for the special privilege given to the Ambanis. Several fans gloated on social media that the elimination had served the Ambanis right for the arrogance they displayed towards other teams and their owners. Suddenly, others began to notice that Punjab Kings XI co-owner Preity Zinta was watching the match from one of the VIP galleries, as is routine.
Others questioned why the BCCI had meted out this preferential treatment of arranging a sofa in MI colours at every ground where the team played. Why were other owners made to sit or stand in VIP boxes, owners’ or corporate boxes, but the MI owners sat next to the ground like royalty? They were surrounded by security personnel and because of the strategic placement of the sofa, near the dugout, or because of instructions given, every camera would pick up every emotion displayed by mother and son.
The duo may have been regretting the over-exposure ever since MI were eliminated. The publicity apparently returned to bite them as netizens recalled Nita Ambani celebrating and showing six of her fingers after a win, apparently to show her confidence that the team was well on its way to win its sixth IPL title. Other corporate owners clearly did not protest and the BCCI saw no need to clarify why the sofa was thought necessary for the owners of MI and was allowed within the ground, close to the ropes, where nobody is generally allowed owing to security reasons.
While the stare Nita Ambani gave her son after the team was eliminated was described as a ‘death stare’ on social media, most media reports suggested mildly that the look ‘suggested disappointment at what she was seeing on the pitch’. The reports took note that the ‘Ambani mother-son duo have been consistent features of MI matches from their place on the sideline over the course of IPL 2025 and they have provided consistent snapshots…’.
The reaction on social media was more explicit and suggestive. One tweet read: "Look how other team owners sit and how a special sofa for Ambanis is arranged in every stadium. That is why seeing MI cry was so satisfying…thank you Iyer for humbling them’. The image tagged to the tweet was divided into two sections. On the left, Zinta was seen sitting in the stands, dressed in a white top with red trousers, watching the match alongside other spectators. On the right, Nita and Akash Ambani were seated on a plush blue sofa placed on the field, near the boundary ropes, with a pedestal fan and security personnel nearby.
Nishanth Muraleedharan, an IT engineer-turned-entrepreneur, noted that the Ambanis seated separately was now a familiar image but ‘why only them’? Why should they alone be allowed to sit virtually next to their players? Why team owners like Preity Zinta (Punjab Kings), Shah Rukh Khan (Kolkata Knight Riders), Kavya Maran (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Sajjan Jindal (Delhi Capitals stakeholder) or Sanjeev Goenka (Lucknow Super Giants) are all spotted in the usual high-tier VIP stands — behind glass, away from the field, like regular billionaires?'
He went on to write, ‘the Ambani sofa in IPL 2025 is not a piece of furniture. It’s a symbol of how influence works in India. It’s a reminder that money bends rules, and cricket, our beloved game, is slowly becoming a curated spectacle where some own the game and the others just clap’.
