IPL Governing Council forms panel to analyse Lodha committee verdict

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) needs more time to act. Call it sleeping on the problem or whatever you want, but none of this is going to amuse the Supreme Court, the Justice Lodha Committee or, for that matter, the cricket-loving public.

The governing council (GC) of the Indian Premier League (IPL), on Sunday, decided to form a working group to analyse the verdict of the Justice Lodha Committee. Last week, the Supreme Court-appointed panel had suspended the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals for two years besides handing out life bans to Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra.

The GC instructed its chairman, Rajeev Shukla, to head the new group and present its findings within six weeks. These will have to be ratified by the working committee, the most powerful body within the BCCI. It is understood that the Congress leader has decided to include BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, GC members Ajay Shirke and Jyotiraditya Scindia, and veteran BCCI counsel Usha Nath Banerjee in the working group.

Acknowledging the need to "understand the impact" of the verdict and "the wider ramifications" so as to "uphold the paramountcy of the game", the BCCI said in a release that the working group "will study this verdict" with an aim to "protect the interests of all the stakeholders".

In other words, CSK and RR can breathe easy. For now, that is.

Not surprisingly, the idea of terminating the franchises, whose owners/officials committed a criminal breach of trust against the BCCI, was not discussed. Never mind what former BCCI president Shashank Manohar told several media houses on Saturday. Why, even Justuice RM Lodha said that it's the BCCI's prerogative to terminate the franchises. But the GC didn't pay heed to any of these potent suggestions. That's because a significant section of the BCCI still worships former president N Srinivasan, whose India Cements Ltd owns CSK.

The gathering, which comprised Ravi Shastri and Sourav Ganguly among others, mulled the possibility of holding an auction for two teams to ensure that IPL 9 remains an eight-team affair. The members also spoke of the eventual possibility of organising a 10-team league once the suspended franchises return in 2018.

IPL chief operating officer Sundar Raman, who runs the extravaganza in every sense of the word but whose role has been under scrutiny for quite a few years, found himself in a Catch-22 situation. Raman told the committee that holding a 10-team event could be a "logistical nightmare". Just then, former BCCI treasurer Shirke, who attended the meeting via videoconferencing from Portugal, reminded Raman that the fourth edition of the IPL had comprised 10 teams. Sources said that Raman, a close confidante of Srinivasan, was "trying his best to shield" CSK. He stayed mum.

The GC also discussed the disputable possibility of "adopting" CSK and RR. While a section of the gathering said it could lead to another case of conflict of interest, some enthusiastic members suggested that the BCCI appoint a financial services giant like KPMG to run the teams. Just then, Shastri said via videoconferencing from London that "the IPL is what it is because of its players". He suggested that Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni be entrusted with the responsibility of running the franchises on behalf of the BCCI.

Shastri's proposal was contested by none other than Shirke, a long-time critic of Srinivasan and high-handedness. In fact, Shirke had resigned from the post of treasurer after Srinivasan refused to give up his chair when the ugly truth concerning his son-in-law came to light. Shirke duly reminded the members that Dhoni could not be given such a "huge responsibility" because "he had categorically lied" to the Justice Mudgal Committee over Meiyappan's role in CSK. Just then, Thakur stepped in and reminded the squabbling members that the BCCI had some serious issues to discuss.