The Indian Premier League Governing Council has delegated its chairman, Rajeev Shukla, to form a working group of five members to chart a road map for Season 9 of the Twenty20 tournament in 2016.
The council, which met here on Sunday, stated that it respected the adjudication of the Supreme Court-appointed Justice R.M. Lodha Committee. “The BCCI respects the verdict of the Lodha commission and will abide by its decisions in toto. The members recognised that there is an urgent need to understand the impact of this decisions,” BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said in a press release.
The committee had recommended suspension of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals from the tournament for breach of IPL Operational Rules. “The working group will consult all stakeholders of IPL and the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman) and report to the GC in six weeks’ time,” Mr. Shukla said.
Apart from Mr. Shukla and Mr. Thakur, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ajay Shirke and BCCI legal counsel Usha Nath Banerjee are likely to be part of the working group.
IPL working group to plan road map in six weeks
The IPL Governing Council has delegated its chairman Rajeev Shukla to form a small working group of five members to plan out a road map for the tournament in the immediate future following the Supreme Court appointed Justice R.M. Lodha committee’s decision to eject Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals from the IPL-9 and 10 seasons, and its pithy observation that the purity of the game must be preserved at all costs.
At a meeting here on Sunday, the council deliberated on it for almost an hour before arriving at the decision.
Shukla, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ajay Shirke and BCCI legal counsel Usha Nath Banerjee are likely to be in the working group.
Speaking to newspersons, Shukla said, “we respect the order of the Justice Lodha Committee and accept it in toto.
“After the council members appraised the current situation and shared their views, it was decided to form a working group.
“This group will have a dialogue with the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman), broadcaster, sponsors, State associations and legal experts and present a report to the IPL GC in six weeks time on the way forward for next year’s IPL and thereafter place it before the working committee for its consideration.
“We all want the show to go on and enhance the value of IPL-9. It should be better than the previous editions,” he added.
There was much speculation about a few members of the GC likely to propose termination of the agreement with the two franchisees following the statement by Justice Lodha that the BCCI could do so, since the actions by the affected individuals and teams brought disrepute to the game.
It’s understood that none of the members physically present at the meeting proposed such a harsh step, but apparently Ajay Shirke (from London) was not averse to initiating a move to terminate the two franchises.
“Maybe the BCCI secretary too was leaning towards such a view because of the strong stricture by the Lodha Committee,” said a GC member.
At the end of his press conference, though, Shukla hinted that the Lodha Committee had already given its order and it was unlikely the IPL or BCCI would go further.
Ravi Shastri, who has been in the GC since the inaugural year of the IPL, went to the extent of saying that the sweat and toil of some world class players have been responsible in shaping Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals into super brands, and attempts should be made to suitably change the composition of the two teams.
Sources said Shastri agreed with BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry’s suggestion that professional audit firms KPMG and Deloitte should be given the responsibility in the event of BCCI’s readiness to run the two teams with different names.
Counsel Usha Nath Banerjee was clear that the BCCI should not take the responsibility of running the two teams. Most members felt the BCCI should float a tender for two new teams for seasons 9 and 10 and organise a 10-team event from 2018.
Though he is not a member of the IPL GC, former BCCI joint secretary and treasurer Mohinder Pandove’s opinion that two new teams for seasons 9 and 10 and a 10-team tournament from season 11 onwards was conveyed to the members.
Read: >SC's full judgment on the IPL scam
>Timeline
- › May 16, 2013: Rajasthan Royals players S. Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan, Ajit Chandila held on spot-fixing charges
- › May 34: Gurunath Meiyappan of Chennai Super Kings arrested on betting charges
- › June 2: N. Srinivasan steps aside as BCCI president
- › Oct 8: Supreme Court appoints panel headed by Justice Mudgal
- › Feb 10, 2014: Panel indicts Meiyappan for betting
- › April 22: Supreme Court asks panel to continue with probe
- › November 17: Panel says Srinivasan ignored violation of player's code of conduct
- › Jan 22, 2015: Supreme Court absolves Srinivasan of charge of cover-up and misleading the probe committee