Kochi Tuskers ready to compromise on money, not cricket

Just before the Special General Meeting (SGM) of the Indian cricket board in Mumbai on Tuesday, its officials met representatives of terminated franchise Kochi Tuskers to find a mutual agreeing point amidst the ongoing arbitration tussle.

The Kochi team was terminated, after only one season, for "breaching terms of agreement" and the BCCI had encashed bank guarantee of Rs 153 crore in 2011.

The arbitration panel, headed by former chief justice of India RC Lahoti, ruled in Kochi's favour and ordered the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to pay Rs 550 crore to the franchise.

However, the delaying tactics by BCCI is proving costly as an 18 per cent of compound interest has made this amount to swell up to nearly over Rs 1,200 crore.

Both board's acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary and CEO Rahul Johri failed to break any deadlock and rather defer the matter to some other day. Each day costs BCCI approximately Rs 75 lakh additionally on account of interest.

The big question is why is no one in BCCI trying to save public money from being used to settle the ego battles of former administrators?

The BCCI, under former president Shashank Manohar, had wrongly terminated the contract of Kochi Tuskers Kerala for non-payment of their bank guarantee in 2011 after just one year. Even then many of the board members raised their voices against such arbitrary manner of their president, but as always, Manohar had his way.

After talking to various stake holders, what is apparent is that though the owners of the Kochi franchise have made an open offer to BCCI to "reinstate the team in the next IPL season", lack of clarity on who is authorised to take a call within the BCCI is delaying the resolution.

"It is a very difficult situation for us. The earlier president has put us in such a position from where there is only one way to come out and that is by mutually agreeing to a settlement," said a senior BCCI official who is in know of all financial matters for many years now.

"Right now, there is complete lack of clarity for an outsider and for anybody within the BCCI as to who is calling the shots (within the board). This is not a matter which deals with day-to-day affairs but is a policy matter.

The overwhelming view among the Kochi team partners is to put an end to this saga and make a fresh start next season.

"We've given in writing to BCCI that we just want to play IPL. For that we've ready to forego a huge chunk of money that BCCI has to pay us. Pay a little and allow us to play IPL is an option at which we're working at," said a Kochi co-owner on Wednesday.

BCCI's legal experts also have their backs to the wall and expect no respite from ongoing appeal in Bombay High Court. The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators immediately need to intervene to save hard-earned public money.