BCCI president wanted changes in tender process: Shah

$100 million and also provide a rolling bank guarantee for the sum of the winning bid. These clauses had forced some big names,including Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and Muthoot Group,to back out. This resulted in just two serious bidders—the Adani Group and Videocon—vying for the honour.

Speaking to The Indian Express the vice-chairman of the IPL governing council Niranjan Shah said: “The (BCCI) president felt a few clauses were too stiff and he wanted some modifications. Since the president’s approval is necessary for going ahead with the process and naming the winning bids,the entire process was cancelled and we asked for fresh tenders,which will now be opened on March 21.”

This was an instance of Manohar making it clear that IPL,despite its unprecedented success,was merely a BCCI sub-committee with the president being the man in charge. Shah reiterated this by saying: “The tournament has been launched under the BCCI banner and the committee,which runs the tournament and sets the rules and regulations for the franchises,is formed by the cricket board. The BCCI is the final authority in all cricket-related matters in the country. It is mandatory to have the BCCI president’s approval before the IPL committee decides on anything.”

It is learnt that a letter from Team India sponsor Sahara to the BCCI president,expressing its reservations about the new clauses,was also responsible for the hitch in the tender process. “Why is it necessary (for the corporates) to have a net worth of $1 billion to bid for an IPL team?” was the question Sahara asked the BCCI. Manohar drove home his point during the IPL governing council meeting.

Manohar wanted more parties to be involved in the process and proposed that the tender clauses be scrapped altogether and bids not opened. IPL commissioner Lalit Modi had no option but to drop the initial clauses in the invitation to tenders. The floor price to bid for a franchise is $225 million and it has been retained.

“The new process will be less complicated and will be easier for potential franchises,” Shah said.