Srinivasan takes charge as BCCI president; terminates Kochi's contract

Mumbai - 19 Sep 2011 (IANS):N Srinivasan, the newly-appointed president of theBoard of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI), took over on Monday and immediately terminated Kochi Tuskers' contract after the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, despite repeated reminders, defaulted on a Rs 156 crore annual payment it was to make.

"Because of the irremediable breach committed by the Kochi franchise, theBCCIhas decided to encash the bank guarantee in their possession and also terminate the franchise. We have terminated the franchise because the breach is not capable of being remedied," said Srinivasan after the AGM.

The franchise was bought by a consortium comprising some Gujarat-based businessmen for a whopping Rs 1,550 crore last year. According to the rules, franchises have to pay the amount in 10 equal installments.

Kochi has been in the news right from the start due to a rift between the owners, who also wanted to shift the team's base to Ahmedabad. The BCCI, in the past, had also turned down Kochi Tuskers' request to cut down their franchise fees. Kochi owners were promised 18 games in the Invitation to Tender (ITT) document but this was cut down to 14 as the fourth edition was reduced to a 74-game tournament.

TheIPLwas earlier planned to be a 94-match tournament was cut down to 74 matches due to the hectic international calendar.

Srinivasan also made it clear that the BCCI would not use the Decision Review System (DRS) in its current form since it is unacceptable to the board. He said the BCCI would raise the issue at the upcoming ICC meetings.

"We have decided not to use DRS in its current form. (Outgoing president) Sashank Manohar had raised this issue at earlier ICC meetings, and I will also raise the issue in future meetings," he said.

"We were extremely reluctant to implement the DRS and had no belief in the ball tracking system. BCCI is not averse to technology and agreed to a minimum usage of DRS including 'Hot Spot' at the last ICC meeting in Hong Kong. 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 raise this issue at the next ICC meeting. We want to revisit it as we feel 'Hot Spot' is insufficient technology and therefore we would request (ICC) that it be revised. This is the position we will take," said Srinivasan.

He also said that former captain Sourav Ganguly was offered the chairmanship of the technical committee, adding that incumbent Sunil Gavaskar, also a former captain, has written to the BCCI to be relieved from the post.

"Gavaskar has written to us that he has been on the technical committee for seven years, and it's time that we search for a fresh face. It is our intention to appoint Sourav Ganguly as the chairman of the technical committee. We haven't yet been able to contact him, but hopefully he will give his consent," Srinivasan said.

On the appointment of Mohinder Amarnath from the North Zone, Srinivasan said: "I don't think anybody would dispute his qualification to be in the selection committee."

Meanwhile,Kochi Tuskersalso threatened legal action after the BCCI terminated its IPL contract.

Kochi Tuskers director Mukesh Patel told IANS that they don't have any dues outstanding and in fact the BCCI owes them Rs.12-15 crore next month as a share in the central revenue.

"We don't have any outstanding dues with the BCCI. The termination is illegal. We will take them (BCCI) to court. In fact, the BCCI will be paying us Rs 12-15 crore next month as a part of our central revenue," said Patel.

At the AGM, Madhya Pradesh's Cricket Association's Sanjay Jagdale was elected unopposed as secretary while Himachal Pradesh's Anurag Thakur and Maharashtra's Ajay Shirke were elected joint secretary and treasurer.

The two new vice presidents are Chitrak Mitra and Sudhir Dabir representing East and Central zones while Arun Jaitley (North), Shivlal Yadav (South) and Niranjan Shah (West) retained their seats for another term.

The senior selection panel also saw one change in 1983 World Cup hero Mohinder Amarnath replacing replacing Yashpal Sharma from North Zone. Amarnath is likely to take over after present chairman Krishnamachari Srikkanth's term ends next September along with three other members -- Surendra Bhave (West), Narendra Hirwani (Central) and Raja Venkat (East).

Former vice president Rajeev Shukla replaced Chirayu Amin as the interim chairman of the IPL while Mohinder, who was a part of the Governing Council, made way for outgoing treasurer MP Pandove, also a former cricketer from Punjab.