MUMBAI: Deccan Chronicle on Saturday filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking a stay on the BCCI‘s decision to terminate the contract it had with the Indian Premier League (IPL) for IPL Twenty20 cricket franchise Deccan Chargers.

BCCI Secretary Sanjay Jagdale, in a statement, said the court heard both the parties and posted the petition for hearing on Monday, 17 September.

Earlier, explaining the decision to terminate the contract, Jagdale said despite the High Court appointing a court officer to act as an Observer at the opening of the tender, which was conducted under the aegis of the BCCI, to save the beleaguered franchise, Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd rejected the bid that was received in the amount of Rs 4.50 billion cash and an equal sum in convertible debentures. This was despite the bidder meeting the eligibility criteria of the BCCI.

"BCCI has received a lawyers notice invoking arbitration from the franchise stating that it had not committed any breaches and even if such breaches were committed, the BCCI should not act to terminate the franchise till Yes Bank furnishes sufficient finance to cure the breaches. By this, Deccan Chronicle Holdings has clearly admitted its inability to cure its breaches within the time stipulated in the BCCI notice despite every bit of assistance from the BCCI," a BCCI statement said.

He said since the month of May, BCCI has received repeated assurances that the overdue player fees would be paid but all of those promises have remained unfulfilled.

The Governing Council (of the IPL) took note of the sudden change of stance by the franchise and also the fact that any further extension of time would seriously prejudice the interests of the players. The governing council at an emergency meeting in Chennai on Friday night took the final decision to terminate the contract with Deccan Chargers owner Deccan Chronicle.

"Considering the stated position of the Deccan franchise to refuse to rectify the various defaults including payments to players, foreign Boards etc, as also the deleterious effect such conduct would have on the reputation of the IPL and the franchise itself, a decision was taken to forthwith terminate the Deccan Chargers franchise," BCCI stated.

Jagdale stated that the BCCI was completely justified in its action which was taken with careful deliberation and only due to the absolute inability of the franchise to effectively run the team.

Reports had earlier indicated that Yes Bank, one of the banks that had loaned Deccan Chronicle money, had agreed to pay the players‘ salaries. The deadline for clearing players‘ dues was 1700 hrs Saturday.

Also Read: BCCI terminates Deccan Chargers contract

MUMBAI: Already battling a range of scandals, the Indian Premier League has been hit by yet another one with a leading Hindi news channel claiming that several domestic and international players, both Indian and foreign, along with the team owners are involved in fixing matches.

India TV?s sting operation which was aired on Monday during prime time revealed that the fixing menace is also prevalent in domestic cricket with women playing facilitators role.

As a corrective action, the IPL Governing Council has handed out suspension orders to five uncapped Indian players on Tuesday with immediate effect pending completion of an inquiry.

The decision to suspend Mohnish Mishra, Shalabh Srivastava, T.P. Sudhindra, Amit Yadav and Abhinav Bali was taken after a lengthy tele-conference of top BCCI officials and members of the IPL?s Governing Council.

Incidentally, the news comes just days after the BCCI announced the formation of an anti-corruption unit to be headed by Ravi Sawani, the former chief of the ICC?s Anti-Corruption Unit.

Deccan Chargers? T Sudhindra, according to the channel, had bowled a no-ball in last year?s first class match on their reporter?s insistence. He also assured to change his team in future if he was paid Rs 6 million.

Kings XI Punjab player Shalabh Srivastava demanded Rs 1 million for bowling a no-ball in a IPL match, the channel stated.

Mohnish Mishra, playing for Pune Warriors India, confessed that he was getting Rs 14.5 million from its owner Sahara whereas he was in the Rs 3 million slab.

Many other revelations came to light in the sting operation that probably for the first time in cricketing history, senior and junior cricketers playing in rival teams jointly fixed the outcome of matches.

A clear pattern has supposedly emerged where a particular bowler has bowled easy deliveries and dropped catches, while his ?partner in crime? went on a scoring spree, the channel averred.

The sting operation also brought to light the ?murky? dealings between players and franchises thereby bringing the issue to the fore what was only being spoken in hushed voices in cricketing circles.

IPL players caught during the sting also confessed to receiving more than the prescribed auction amount in the contract through illegal means which makes a mockery of the salary cap guideline laid down by the BCCI.

It needs noting that BCCI had in the past imposed bans on Chennai Super Kings? player Ravindra Jadeja and Royal Challengers Bangalore player Manish Pandey for negotiating with other team owners for a larger financial contract.

It is also widely believed that top players like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and MS Dhoni who were retained by their respective franchises have been paid more than the prescribed $2.4 million which franchises are supposed to pay for the first player retained.

The BCCI as usual has released a brief statement vowing to "act against corruption". However, it would be interesting to watch how the world?s richest cricket tackles the crisis.

"Some TV channels have been reporting a story pertaining to alleged unacceptable practices by players participating in the IPL. The BCCI will not tolerate any violation of regulations and any act of corruption," BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a statement.

The complete footage of the ?sting operation,? will be sought, and examined thoroughly, Jagdale added.

India TV Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma on his part assured that it will extend all possible help to the BCCI.

"The BCCI has already asked us to provide the tapes and we are ready to cooperate not only with BCCI but also investigation agencies. We want players to play honestly and respect the fans who literally worship them," Sharma told the press conference that was telecast live on the channel.

He further revealed, "We had been working on this sting since May last year. We started it right after the IPL season IV ended and worked on it till 21 April 2102."

"We first spoke to Deccan Chargers player T P Sudhindra last year as agents of a sports management firm. He opened up very easily and gave us a lot of information on how spot fixing is prevalent in local, domestic and IPL matches.

"We didn?t trust him initially and to prove that it can be done, he bowled a no-ball in one of the domestic matches. Another thing was the revelation that Kings XI bowler Shalabh Srivastava was ready to do spot fixing during the current IPL."

Sharma also pointed out the names of two notables who refused to walk the path of their shamed fellow colleagues.
"However there were players like Kolkata Knight Riders? Rajat Bhatia and Rajasthan Royals? Samad Fallah who didn?t fall for the lure of money and we should appreciate them," said Sharma.

Last year, Pakistan players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were jailed in Britain for their role in spot-fixing during their test match against England at Lords in August 2010. The International Cricket Council subsequently banned the three players for a minimum of five years.

The spot-fixing scam had come to light after the now defunct British newspaper News of the World carried through a sting operation revealed how sports agent Mazhar Majeed boasted of how he could arrange for players to rig games for money.

MUMBAI: The Indian cricket board has approved Star India?s purchase of the media rights for international cricket played in India for a period of six years till 2018.

Star India had last month sprung a major surprise by bagging the BCCI media rights for Rs 38.51 billion, beating Multi Screen Media which had bid Rs 37 billion. Interestingly, ESPN Star Sports, the equal joint venture between Star and ESPN, did not bid.

"The BCCI working committee ratified the grant of media rights to Star India Pvt. Ltd. for the next six years - 2012 to 2018," BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a media statement.

The WC has also recommended inclusion of a Pakistani team in Champions League Twenty20 tournament, a move aimed at attracting eyeballs. ESPN Star Sports holds the rights for a period of ten years till 2017, paying a whopping $975 million.

The Champions League T20 Governing Council will look into the recommendations of the working committee.

The move comes three years after the 26/11 terror attacks, which led to a break-up of bi-lateral cricketing ties between the two countries.

A Pakistani team, Sialkot Stallions, was expected to participate in the inaugural edition of CL T20. However, the terror attacks led to the exclusion of Pakistan from the tournament.

"The Working Committee has decided to invite a team from Pakistan to play in Champions League Twenty20 to be held in October," BCCI president N Srinivasan told reporters after the Board?s working committee meeting.

Srinivasan said the recommendation will be forwarded to CLT20 Governing Council for the approval of Cricket Australia, and Cricket South Africa, who are also founding members of the tournament.

"We will recommend to the GC that the BCCI has no objection and is prepared to invite a Pakistan team in the Champions League," he added.

Modeled on the lines of Football?s Champions League, CL T20 draws teams from India, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and New Zealand. Teams that win their respective national T20 competition qualify for the tournament.

The inaugural edition of the competition featured 12 sides from seven nations and was held in India. In 2010, CLT20 moved to South Africa where 10 sides from six nations locked horns at four venues.

Last year, the tournament returned to India with a pre-tournament qualifier with six teams facing off in a qualifier in Hyderabad. The three top teams from qualifiers joined seven already confirmed teams making it a 10-team tournament.

MUMBAI: The working committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has rejected the revised draft for the National Sports Development Bill. It wants to regulate the functioning of National Sports Federations.

The BCCI said that certain aspects of the bill are meant to "destroy the autonomy" of the board.

BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale said, "While the BCCI is all for good governance and transparency in sports bodies, certain aspects of the Bill seek to destroy the autonomy of the Board and dilute the rights of its members.

"Therefore the Board is totally opposed to this Bill and will be communicating its objections to the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports shortly. It has to be borne in mind that ?Sports? is a state subject and the legislative competence of central government is limited. The bill tends to encroach upon fundamental rights of sports bodies".