(Cricinfo) “In the wake of the Mudgal committee report, do you think the auction should go on?” That was the first question posed to Venky Mysore, the Kolkata Knight Riders chief executive, who was addressing a media conference to announce a tie-up with global giant SAP yesterday in Bangalore. Mysore excused himself from responding, But later during the briefing he said: “franchise sport is here and going to stay.”
Mysore might have spoken on behalf of the rest of the seven franchises: despite a damning report on corruption in the IPL by the Justice Mudgal committee, there was nothing today at the auction venue to suggest the BCCI was bothered.
The flags of all eight teams fluttered on a muggy Tuesday as franchise owners, heads and officials, former India captains and international coaches slipped in with big smiles to re-acquaint themselves with their friends in the IPL fraternity. The celebrity factor came when Preity Zinta (one of the owners at Kings XI Punjab) crossed paths with fellow Bollywood star Juhi Chawla, wife of Jay Mehta, the co-owner of Knight Riders. There was whispered speculation over whether an injured Shah Rukh Khan would make it for the auction. International media, specifically from the UK, were curious as to what kind of interest franchises had in Kevin Pietersen.
In that respect the build-up to what has become one of the most watched events on TV was no different to previous years. But as far as the auction goes there are quite e few differences compared to the last big auction, which happened in 2011. Then there were 10 teams, compared to eight now.
