The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) and the Indian Premier League (IPL) have called it a truce. After threatening to boycott the IPL for being ‘sidelined’, the MCA members have agreed to end the boycott. MCA president Sharad Pawar is believed to have persuaded the members to climb down from their hard stand.
The MCA had earlier boycotted the league opener on March 12 after their claim for 20% of passes for the matches in Mumbai was not honoured. The MCA also wanted to take action against DY Patil Club, which agreed to host the matches at its stadium in Nerul without obtaining a go-ahead from the association.
At its AGM here on Friday, Pawar said the members should not be angry about the opening match since it did not involve the Mumbai team. He assured that the IPL would provide 5,000 passes to the association for the third-place play-off match and the final. Both will be held at DY Patil.
It is also believed that Pawar promised the members that once the Wankhede work is complete, all IPL matches (in Mumbai) will be held at the venue and the association will be entitled for its quota of 20 per cent of the passes for every game.
The IPL confirmed this. “The MCA has been part of the IPL and will continue to be. We’re happy that they have agreed to be part of the league. Wankhede will host our matches in future,” IPL chairman Lalit Modi said. He also confirmed that the association will be given5,000 passes each for the last two matches in the city.
Meanwhile, the AGM passed an extra grant of Rs150 crore for the construction of the Wankhede, which is being renovated for the 2011 World Cup. The total cost of the stadium will be around Rs280 crores.
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