At the end, the BCCI working committee meeting on Monday looked more like a face-saving exercise. The much-awaited meet stuck to its ploy of getting strict with individuals while sparing the teams.
As predicted by Express, the Board has only suspended Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra on charges of gambling.
Earlier also it had acted similarly, suspending BCCI boss and Chennai Super Kings owner N Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan for his alleged involvement in betting.
The working committee decided that the panel of Justice T Jayaram Chouta and Justice R Balasubramanian would probe the case of Kundra and the Rajasthan Royals. The same panel is probing the case of Meiyappan and the Chennai Super Kings.
The Board was forced to call the meeting after the Delhi Police claimed that Kundra, a minority (11.7 per cent) shareholder in the Rajasthan Royals, had confessed to betting during IPL matches.
If the charges are proved, the Rajasthan Royals faces the prospect of being terminated from the IPL and to avoid this fate, the franchise has already distanced itself from Kundra.
IPL rules say the contract of teams can be terminated if their owners violate norms, but like the Chennai Super Kings, the Rajasthan Royals escaped attention on this front.
“Rajasthan Royals’ role in the issue is being looked into but without getting hold of the facts, we don’t want tofrighten anybody,” said caretaker president Jagmohan Dalmiya.
Sources said there was no talk in the meeting to punish teams. The BCCI’s Anti-corruption and Security Unit chief Ravi Sawani was present at the meeting and his report on S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajay Chandila was handed over to the disciplinary committee.
The BCCI has also proposed some corrective measures to cleanse IPL. There have been suggestions that jammers be installed at match venues to prevent any communication between players and bookies. It has also proposed to scrap after- match parties.