KOCHI: As the excitement of the Indian Premier League returns for a fifth time on Wednesday, Kochi Cricket Private Limited is still licking its wounds.
The consortium of partners — at least a section of the motley group of businessmen behind the terminated Kochi Tuskers Kerala — apparently maintain that the world has not heard, or seen for that matter, the last of the controversial IPL franchise. One of the partners, Mehul Shah of the Anchor Group, told TNIE on Tuesday that the future of the Kochi franchise would be decided by the courts. “The matter will be decided by the court,” he said, without elaborating on the plans of KCPL.
The main contention of the franchise is that the BCCI did not reduce the franchise fees despite a reduction in the number of matches in IPL 4, from 94 to 74, due to a tight international schedule. All that Shah was willing to add was: “No one has gone away. All the partners are together.”
Sources, however, said that the Gaekwad brothers of the Rendezvous Sports World Private Limited — the original group that assembled the consortium that included an array of shareholders — were planning to revive the team next season. But Shah denied such a move. “That is rubbish,” he said, perhaps buttressing the poorly kept secret that the consortium has hardly any common ground.
The Gaekwad brothers had reportedly arranged the amount of Rs 154 crore required to be furnished as the bank guarantee to the BCCI in February, prior to the player auction for the latest edition, but then decided not to press the issue with little chance of things settling down this season.
The failure to provide the bank guarantee on time had forced the apex body to terminate the Kochi IPL franchise last year, following a trouble-torn inaugural season which began with the Rendezvous led consortium placing a successful and surprising bid for Rs 1533 crore in 2010.
Meanwhile, a seemingly disheartened Kerala Cricket Association secretary TC Mathew said that the chances of the owners striking a united stand to revive the team at least for next season were bleak.
“There hasn’t been any contact with the Kochi IPL team owners after the Rendezvous representatives had raised hopes of some positive action when they met the Chief Minister (Oommen Chandy, in February),” Mathew said. He added that it would be with great disappointment that the fans and the cricket fraternity in the state would be watching the IPL matches this season, on television. “It was fantastic that we had the IPL in Kochi last year. But the way things turned out was saddening,” he said.