Kochi Tuskers want both compensation and reinstatement

CHENNAI: If the amount was not enough, the demand to reinstate the team has completely stumped the Indian cricket board (BCCI). On Tuesday hours after the Indian Premier League Governing Council decided to direct BCCI to pay Rs 850 crore as compensation to ousted franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala, the owners of the franchise demanded reinstatement into the league. It has been reliably learned that the franchise is not happy with the money offered by the BCCI as by rough estimate, the compensation amounts to around Rs 1,500 crore, following a favourable arbitration in 2015.

In 2011, when Shashank Manohar was the president of the BCCI, the board had terminated Kochi Tuskers Kerala, citing breach of franchise agreement and encashed bank guarantee of around Rs 153 crore. The owners of the franchise demanded the board to pay around Rs 350 crore as compensation, which was not entertained by the BCCI. In 2015, former Chief Justice of India RC Lahoti-headed panel directed the cricket board to not only pay Rs 385 crore as damages, but also the bank-guarantee they had encashed, Rs 540 crore in total, with 18 per cent annual penalty with effect from September 2011 till the date of realisation.

During the meeting on Tuesday, the IPL GC believed the issue can be settled by paying Rs 850 crore, provided the negotiations with the franchise go smoothly. However, thanks to the shabby treatment metted out by some of the former officials of the BCCI, the franchise is in no mood for an amount that is way lower than their expectation. “With the arbitration also going in favour of the franchise now, the BCCI cannot even appeal before the Supreme Court,” a governing council member told Express after the meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday.

“We have quoted around Rs 850 crore, although the BCCI may reduce it,” he said. It is understood that the owners have asked the BCCI to pay around Rs 1000 crore and reinstate them in the 2018 season. BCCI is yet to respond to their demand. “At this point the board is not looking at adding more teams to the league, because it will mean we have to create a bigger window. The negotiations with the franchise will now be mostly on the final amount to be paid and that is how the discussions will be going forward. But again, the franchise has an upper hand here,” the official added.

New name for Rajasthan

The IPL GC has approved the Rajasthan Royals’ request for their name to be changed for the upcoming season. Returning to the fold, after serving a two-year suspension, they had written to the council asking for a change in name as they plan to move their base to Lucknow or Kanpur. The change of city might not be the only change in Rajasthan Royals’ set up as there are indications that the RP Goenka group, headed by Sanjiv Goenka, which owned the Rising Pune Supergiant, are now interested in buying the franchise for around Rs 1000 crore.

Though both franchises were tight lipped about the development, those in the know told Express that talks are at an advanced stage. Even Kings XI Punjab, could move their base to Indore as the franchise finally got the green signal. They had long been asking for change of base as it hasn’t been able to make enough through gate money at Mohali and has used Pune, Indore and Dharamsala as their other home venues. Meanwhile, the auction purse is likely to be around Rs 75-80 crore.

venkatakrishna@newindianexpress.com