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.
