Dubai: Members of both factions of the Kochi franchise are quite buoyant after receiving another lifeline from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to get their house in order.

The governing council of Indian Premier League (IPL) yesterday gave them a 30-day extension to resolve their "infighting", failing which their contract will be terminated on the 31st day.

"We are confident of saving the franchise. The gap has narrowed between us over the last two weeks and we may not need 30 days to sort it out," Dileep Kumar, Vice-chairman of Rendezvous World Sports Limited, told Gulf News from Mumbai.

Kumar, a Dubai-based industrialist, has been nominated by the Gaekwad family of Rendezvous to carry on the negotiations while Harshad Mehta — a reputed diamond merchant also from Dubai — will be representing the remaining stakeholders.

Speaking to the national media after the decision, the BCCI President Sashank Manohar said in Nagpur: "We received replies from two parties, the Rendezvous group and the other co-owners, and they both felt that the dispute still exists.

Deadline

The Governing Council has invoked clause 12 (1) and given them a 30 days' notice that in case they don't remedy these disputes in the 30 days, the franchise would stand cancelled on the 31st day," he said.

When asked if the two banned franchises — Rajasthan Royals and King's XI Punjab see red over the BCCI giving the warring Kochi franchise another chance, the board President said: "This not an intermediary breach that has been committed like in the case of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab. So that is why they have been given 30 days' [time] to remedy this."

"According to me, the two cases are altogether different. As far as Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab are concerned, there was transfer of ownership but as far as Kochi is concerned, there is no transfer of ownership," said Manohar.

This is certainly the last chance for the beleaguered Kochi franchise, who had failed to resolve their differences over nearly last six months since the Rendezvous Group won the bid with a staggering $333 million (Dh1.2 billion) last March.

According to sources in the franchise, the warring groups are nearing a compromise formula where the majority stakeholders may accept the offer of a "financial payout" by the Rendezvous Group and allow them to retain 25 per cent.