The BCCI’s decision came after the papers and the new shareholding patterns of the Kochi team were found to be in order by its lawyers.
In serious danger of being chucked out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) a week ago, Team Kochi has managed to set its house in order in the nick of time to get the green light from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday to participate in the sporting extravaganza.
The BCCI’s decision came after the papers and the new shareholding patterns of the Kochi team were found to be in order by its lawyers. The board was careful in its moves on the legally cumbersome matter. Although a couple of members of the board’s governing council were of the view that a new auction should be called for, the BCCI went by the book.
Just before the meeting on Sunday, the consortium members were asked to sign the papers in front of the lawyers of the BCCI. A board lawyer was present at the meeting to explain to the members that the papers and the shareholding pattern submitted by the partners were in order.
In the restructured consortium, Mukesh Patel of Parinee Developers has emerged the strongest along with Mehul Shah of Anchor Switches. Together they hold 60% of the shares. Rendezvous Sports World Pvt Ltd (RSWPL) will have 10% stake, half of which will be paid equity. Chintan Vora will be the point man for the BCCI from the consortium.
“It’s a rebirth and a miracle. We never thought we’ll survive,” said Jacob Joseph, one of the key interlocutors who tried to bring together the warring members of the faction-ridden consortium.
The two vexing issues before the consortium were control and sweat equity of RSWPL. Mukesh Patel, taking charge of the negotiations, told Rendezvous that the investors were prepared to lose the team than accede to their stand of 26% share and demand for control.
There were also veiled threats of legal action against them. The masterstroke came when they submitted a letter to the board expressing willingness to surrender the team. RSWPL immediately fell in line and accepted to take a cut in the equity and agreed to drop its demand for the control of the franchise.
RSWPL said it accepted the cut for the larger goal. “This team was their dream. They have made a sacrifice to save the team,” said a consortium insider acknowledging their contribution. “We’re all united and on the same page,” said Mukesh Patel.
The question before the consortium was the venue for its home matches. The BCCI is not too happy with the facilities at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi and this comes in the backdrop of rumours that the investors, mostly from Gujarat, want the matches to be held in Ahmedabad. The off-field problems may have been solved and now for on-field issues.
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