‘IPL MESS SRINI’S DOING’
SHOULD QUIT ICC POST, SAYS MANOHAR
MUMBAI: Beleaguered Indian Premier League outfits Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals will get a hint of which way the wind is blowing in the Indian cricket board by Sunday evening.
The two-year suspension handed to the franchisees by the Supreme Court-appointed committee has left them completely at the mercy of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials.
So far, none of the office-bearers have come out and voiced their thoughts on the next course of action --- whatever the CSK and RR owners have heard is only through unnamed media reports.
Depending on the decisions to be taken at the IPL Governing Council meeting to be held here on Sunday, Chennai and Rajasthan camps will get a clearer picture of the current regime’s line of thinking. It is understood that the two outfits will then plan their next course of action and attempt to limit the damage caused by the damning verdict by the Justice RM Lodha committee.
FRESH CONFLICT The GC meeting has been called to deliberate on how to deal with the suspension of the two teams. IPL is based on a minimum eightteam concept and the main task in front of the council is to figure out how to add two more teams to the present six.
One option being floated is that the Board adopts CSK and RR and run them for two years. But, as Hindustan Times reported on Saturday, after former Board president Shashank Manohar’s meeting with incumbent Jagmohan Dalmiya that option is unlikely to be considered. There will be tremendous opposition to it from some members of the Board, especially the west lobby.
One of the apprehensions about this arrangement will be the conflict of interest it might lead to. Besides, it will burden the Board with extra cost.
As a first step, the GC is likely to form a special independent committee which will study the situation, check all options and come back with recommendations. The appointments will have to be ratified in BCCI’s working committee meeting, the date of which is expected to be announced after the GC meeting.
A section of the Board is for terminating the erring franchisees to clear the deck for two new teams. Experts feel legally it will stand with Justice Lodha having already observed that the BCCI is free to terminate the franchisees on grounds of bringing disrepute to the IPL. The big step will depend on whether the Board members have the conviction to do it.
Of the two new teams, one of the options being considered is to have the Kochi franchisee on board again after the court arbitrator ruled in its favour. However, the issues over which it was terminated may still exist, like clarity over its shareholding pattern.
A senior BCCI member felt the best way forward was to call for fresh bids for two teams. Considering that IPL’s valuation is at its lowest, the price should appeal to many corporates.