The IPL Governing Council that met in Kolkata on Thursday decided on having two new teams from the next season onwards. The tenders would be floated after the BCCI’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) next month.
The Governing Council took the decision after going through the recommendations of the Working Group, which had also proposed running the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) under new management in different avatars. CSK and RR had been banned from the IPL for two years by the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha committee.
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We’ve decided that floating tenders for two new franchises are the best option. The IPL would be a 10-team event when the two banned franchises return from suspension in 2018. We’ve decided this to honour the Lodha committee verdict. We’ve decided this to clean-up cricket and bring back transparency. The final decision rests with the Working Committee.
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- a Governing Council member told.
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The CSK and RR players will be put on auction. If required, we will do a fresh auction for all teams. A decision in this regard will be taken later. We’ve enough time to do that.
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- the source added.
Srini to continue as ICC chief Meanwhile
N Srinivasan is set to continue as ICC chairman post-September. A formal announcement is likely to be made at next month’s AGM; the date and venue of which will be decided at the Working Committee meeting here on Friday. A few months back BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur had said that “Srinivasan will continue to represent the BCCI at the ICC till September. After that we will decide the way forward.”
That was a period of bitter acrimony between the two and Thakur’s statement had sparked speculation that Srinivasan may not continue as ICC chairman after September. But they have since mended fences over the course of the ICC Annual Conference in Barbados in July. Srinivasan has also extended an olive branch to rival Sharad Pawar and is unlikely to face opposition to the ICC post. Srinivasan couldn’t contest the BCCI presidential election in March following the Supreme Court order that barred him from filing nomination.
He, however, voted at the last AGM as Tamil Nadu Cricket Association president. He is attending tomorrow’s Working Committee meeting in the same capacity. He is believed to be doing the groundwork to ensure that his ICC position remains unchallenged.
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Srinivasan has severed all ties with Chennai Super Kings. So nothing prevents him from attending the BCCI meetings. As for his ICC chairmanship, I don’t see any reason why he shouldn’t continue (post-September). The BCCI has benefited from his presence.
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- a cricket board insider said.
Pawar, too, is expected to attend the meeting, but that is for a completely different reason. The BCCI is mulling on shifting its Wankhede headquarters to Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has offered the cricket board a 10-acre plot of land with the parent body likely to bear the construction cost. The issue will be raised at the Working Committee meeting and Thakur has requested Pawar, the MCA president, to be present.
Coach before SA series?
The BCCI secretary has meanwhile dropped a hint that the Indian team could have a full-time coach before the home series against South Africa that starts in October. The Working Committee is expected to ask the three-member Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman to shortlist the candidates before the upcoming AGM.
The issue is not formally on the agenda but is expected to come up for discussion under ‘different matters’. Relocation of the National Cricket Academy (NCA), affiliations to Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Manipur, recommendations on junior cricket and the technical committee’s suggestions are the other major cricketing issues that are also likely to come up for discussion.
On Friday morning the Finance Committee will meet to finalise gradations for the Indian women’s team. The players are likely to be divided into three slots with annual contracts of Rs 15 lakh, Rs 10 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, respectively. Match fees for Team India players will also be fixed in the meeting.
Big test for Dalmiya
The meeting is also a big test for Jagmohan Dalmiya, whether he is fit enough to continue as the BCCI president. Not in the pink of health, Dalmiya had made a few faux pas during the first Working Committee meeting on April 26. There’s a growing concern within the cricket board about his ability to run the show.
Source - Indian Express