Indian board terminates IPL Kochi franchise

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – The Indian cricket board (BCCI)  has terminated the contract of the Indian Premier League’s Kochi  franchise for a breach of terms, newly elected board president  N. Srinivasan said today.   
Kochi, who debuted in the fourth edition of the cash-rich  IPL in 2011, won the franchise rights last year after a  successful bid of $333 million but BCCI sources said they had  defaulted on their payments.   
“Because of the irremediable breach committed by the Kochi  franchise, the BCCI has decided to encash the bank guarantee in their possession and also terminate the franchise,” the new BCCI  president N. Srinivasan told reporters.   
“We have terminated the franchise because the breach is not  capable of being remedied.”   
Kochi, led by former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene in  their inaugural year, and the Pune Warriors were the two  franchises added to the fourth edition of the tournament.    
Any decision regarding the contracted cricketers of the  franchise and a fresh auction to replace them will be taken by  the IPL governing council, Srinivasan said.   
The board, which elected its new set of office bearers at  its annual general meeting on Monday, reiterated its  reservations about the controversial Decision Review System  (DRS).   
    
 NO DRS   
The BCCI has been staunch opponents of DRS as they felt it  was unreliable but agreed to its use after the International  Cricket Council (ICC) proposed a modified version of the  technology which allows teams to challenge umpire rulings.   
“The BCCI is not averse to technology. We did not believe in  the ball-tracking technology at all,” Srinivasan said. “So  therefore, at the last meeting of the ICC in Hong Kong, we  agreed to a minimum usage of DRS including Hot Spot.”   
“At the time, we were under the impression that Hot Spot was  very good. It is not necessary for me to dwell on the accuracy  of Hot Spot, it was there for everybody to see.    
“The BCCI will, at the next ICC meeting, raise the issue. We  want to revisit it because we feel that Hot Spot is  insufficient. We do not wish to use the DRS in its present form,  even in its minimum standard.”   
The board also drafted in former India all-rounder Mohinder  Amarnath in the national selection panel, replacing Yashpal  Sharma, whose term has expired.   
The rest of the panel, including chief of selectors Kris  Srikkanth, was retained.   
Srinvasan said the BCCI would approach Sourav Ganguly to  lead its technical committee after another former captain Sunil  Gavaskar resigned from the post.