Warring factions of Kochi franchise bury the hatchet

Dubai : The Kochi Indian Premier League (IPL) team are in a mad race against time to ensure they do not face the same fate as that of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab, who have been scrapped from the fourth edition of the tournament.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has given the Kochi team a 10-day grace period to sort out their internal differences and register themselves as a company. According to sources, the owners have come to an understanding in an effort to save the team from being scrapped.

The two groups in Kochi team have even signed an agreement to work towards saving the team, sinking their differences following many meetings. It is understood that Shashi Tharoor, the former Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, has played a pivotal role in bringing the two factions together and sorting out their problems.

According to the source, the internal fight is between Rendezvous Sports World owned by Satyajit Gaikwad and Dubai-based Rosy Blue's Harshad Mehta's Film Wave on one side holding 38 per cent of the Rendezvous Cricket Management Private Limited and the rest of the owners which include Anchor Earth, Parinee Developers, Anand Shyam and Vivek Venugopal, who own a 62 per cent stake. The two groups together will be writing to the BCCI soon informing them of their decision.

Running into trouble

The Kochi franchise has been controversial from the start ever since they became the 10th IPL franchise after a successful bid of $333.33 million (Dh1.22 billion). However, they ran into trouble immediately over the composition of its ownership, including presence of secret partners in the consortium.

Lalit Modi, the former IPL chairman, questioned the composition of the franchise which led to huge controversies. This resulted in Modi losing his position and Tharoor being told by his party to step down from his ministerial post.