Ajay Shirke has emerged as the key figure in the standoff between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Sahara. The BCCI treasurer is being looked upon as the chief negotiator between the two warring parties fighting over the future of an Indian Premier League (IPL) team.
It is understood that BCCI president N Srinivasan has asked the Maharashtra Cricket Association president to initiate talks with disgruntled Sahara officials who pulled out of the February 4 auction at the last minute sighting grievances over the rejection of their “genuine” demands. The fact that Shirke is closely associated with Sahara in building a stadium in Pune has helped the matter.
As reported by this paper, BCCI and Sahara will meet on Sunday to hammer out a solution. It’s confirmed that the meeting will take place in Mumbai on Sunday afternoon.
Men in the know of developments say Shirke is constantly in touch with Sahara supremo Subrata Roy. Currently out of the country, Shirke is believed to have been asked by Srinivasan to return and facilitate a cordial meeting. Shirke is expected to return to the city on Sunday morning.
It is not yet clear as to who all will be part of the meeting, but it can be confirmed that Srinivasan has given his consent to be there for the discussions. Among others, IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla will be there from the BCCI’s side as will be IPL COO Sundar Raman. Roy is expected to lead the Sahara delegation. Shirke, of course, will have reached India in time to be present at the meeting.
At this point of time, the real points of contention are not fully known but as reported by this paper, the two parties will be involved in some intense bargaining over certain issues. Sahara, it is understood, will stress upon the compensation for the loss of Yuvraj Singh. How they can be compensated for his absence will be the main matter of deliberations. The other point, of course, will be how the loss of revenue for Sahara because of the reduction in the number of IPL matches can be offset.
At this stage, the issue of Sahara’s sponsorship of Team India is being treated as a matter independent of the dispute over the IPL team. Once that matter is resolved, the parties will sit to decide on the sponsorship issue. Sahara, it may be recalled, has said that it is no longer interested in sponsoring the Indian team.
Comments