rendezvous

IPL: Sunny Gavaskar hits the headlines, Kochi decision on Wednesday

Sunny Gavaskar hits the deadlines once more; this time it is his links with the Kochi franchise that have drawn flak from all quarters.

The Indian batting legend , the first cricketer to score 10,000 runs and surpass Don Bradman’s 29 tons, is mulling over an offer from the Gaikwads, the Rendezvous group owners, to handle all matters cricketing.

The news comes as a bit of a surprise and there exists speculation about Gavaskar’s role in the bidding process as a possible conflict of interest ; the master batsman was then on the IPL governing council.

(The  fallout between Lalit Modi and Shashi Tharoor was the result of allegations that Tharoor sought Modi’s interference in the bidding process to ensure that the Kochi group’s bid would be successful.)

Gavaskar is no longer a part of the IPL set-up; he quit the re-constituted governing council citing differences with the BCCI.

Was the conflict of interest a reason for the differences? If yes, why then was just the super accumulator penalised?

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IPL: Kochi still up in the air, Shilpa Shetty lets fly at the BCCI

Image via Wikipedia

I must admit that the IPL going-ons have all the makings of a soap opera.

It has all the ingredients – money, glamour and sex appeal (courtesy the Bollywood biggies), a decamping honcho, exotic locations, politics and more twists and turns than a pot-boiler.

Add much needed melodrama and you have a hit formula.

A few bytes on the continuing saga:

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IPL: Iceland , diplomatic immunity , Kochi , signature campaigns and a Warneing

Image by duncan via Flickr

Kochi meets the deadline?

There have been conflicting reports in the Indian press and media about the proposal submitted by the Kochi consortium to the BCCI.

The Times Of India (TOI) reports that the Kochi franchisee have requested an additional ten days to come up with a resolution of the ongoing dispute among the consortium members.

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IPL Road: Kochi dilly-dallies, Modi prevaricates

It has been ominously quiet on the IPL front over the past few days.

Except for news reports that the Enforcement Directorate is studying the BCCI filed FIR against the abrasive Lalit Modi, to fructify their case against his willingness (or unwillingness) to respond to their inquiries. There has been little to report in the Indian press or media.

Lalit Modi and his lawyer claim that they have yet to receive a copy of the FIR filed by the BCCI; this is, of course, a classic delaying tactic to fob off the media until they have studied the ramifications and can respond to the allegations in a coherent manner.

The jurisdiction of the Chennai police has been questioned by Modi and his lawyer.

The ED has issued a Look Out notice that will have Mr. Modi detained at all Indian ports if he attempts to enter the country; the IPL ex-honcho shows no inclination to oblige the authorities, preferring to remain in London with token noises about answering any queries via video conference.

Meanwhile, there still seems no resolution to the dispute within the Kochi consortium with the warring parties unable to come to any sort of arrangement as yet.

Rendezvous, who hold the major chunk of sweat equity are at loggerheads with the other co-owners, namely Anchor Earth, Parinee Developers, Anand Shyam Estates and Vivek Venugopal. Only Filmwave Combines are fine with letting Rendezvous continue in the Kochi consortium with management control.

Rendezvous are willing to buy their sweat equity as long as they retain a say in management matters but doubts are expressed by their partners about the source of their funding and whether the infusion of funds would pass muster with the IT department and ED.

Shashi Tharoor has not been consulted this time around; it is considered best to keep the politician at bay while discussing business matters.

The clock is ticking for the Kochi franchisee and the BCCI must be hoping for a quick resolution, or else it will be a case of even more mud-slinging in the media.

Sunanda Pushkar, now Tharoor’s spouse, has relinquished her stake and is thus no longer a factor in the mediation.

Is this the lull before the storm? Or is it the eye of the storm?

The road to IPL 4 has never seemed more bumpy or more full of obstacles and potholes. Will road rage win the day?

Note: This is an updated version of the earlier article.