By IANS,
Mumbai : The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Tuesday roped in former president Shashank Manohar to solve the crisis over Sahara India’s decision to pull out as the sponsor of the Indian cricket team and owner of the Pune Warriors franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Manohar, who is also an eminent lawyer, and some top officials of the BCCI, including board president N. Srinivasan, secretary Sanjay Jagdale and treasurer Ajay Shirke, met the Sahara top brass at the Sahara Star Hotel in the city.
During Manohar’s tenure as BCCI president, Sahara bought the Pune Franchise for a whopping Rs.1,700 crore, the costliest franchise in the IPL.
The former BCCI president, widely considered as a crisis management expert, had also played a crucial role in successfully convincing the two new franchises, Kochi Tuskers and Pune Warriors, before last year’s auctions since the two franchises had reservations about the Player Retention policy.
Sahara, which has been sponsoring the Indian cricket team for 11 years, severed all its ties with the BCCI earlier this month. Sahara said it was denied natural justice and the last straw was the BCCI’s refusal to allow Yuvraj Singh’s price to be added to Pune Warriors’ auction purse after the southpaw was ruled out of the tournament with a lung tumour.
Sahara signed a fresh sponsorship contract with the BCCI July 1, 2010, and it runs till Dec 31, 2013. According to the Rs.532-crore contract, Sahara will pay Rs.3.34 crore per Test match, one-day international and Twenty20 international under the new terms.
Sahara bought the IPL franchise Pune Warriors for Rs.1,702 crore, making it the most expensive franchise in the Twenty20 league. In all, the BCCI stands to lose around Rs.2,234 crore as a result of the Sahara pullout decision.