Holding league to select teams to replace CSK, RR can be an option

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Working Group has suggested four options to the board on how to go ahead with the 2016 edition of the Indian Premier League.

The Justice Lodha committee suspending Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals for two years following the 2013 spot-fixing scandal means the IPL has now been reduced to six teams which has put the future of the league in doubt.

“We have suggested four logical possibilities. The first option will be to auction off both the banned teams for two years. The second option could be to hand over the reins of the teams to credible entities or institutions for the next two years,” a member of Working Group told HT on Tuesday without elaborating on what ‘institutions or entities’ the IPL was looking at.

OTHER OPTION

“Also, there is an option where the board can organise a T20 league in tier 2 cities and the top two teams from that league can fill up the two slots. However, this will be a time consuming process but even then it can be an option. The fourth option could be to pitch in two new teams altogether through auctions and these two teams can continue after CSK and RR rejoin the league once the ban term is over. The IPL anyway has the provision for 10 teams,” he said. These four options will be placed in front of the IPL governing council which meets in Kolkata on Thursday. The BCCI working committee which meets on Friday in Kolkata will take the final call.

The Working Group comprising IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, IPL governing council member Sourav Ganguly, BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry, and BCCI legal advisor Usha Nath Banerjee had six weeks to study the Lodha committee order and come up with suggestions.

CSK meanwhile have moved the Madras High Court challenging the order of Justice Lodha Committee. “We are not too bothered about CSK’s court notice,” the member said.