09 August,2015 08:54 AM IST | | Harit N Joshi
Speculation over the fate of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, the Indian Premier League (IPL) teams suspended by the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee for two years, may be drawing to a close
Speculation over the fate of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, the Indian Premier League (IPL) teams suspended by the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee for two years, may be drawing to a close.
Rajeev Shukla
It is learnt that it is highly unlikely that the working group, in its report, will recommend the termination of the two teams to the IPL Governing Council.
The consensus so far
The general consensus arrived so far after meeting all franchisee owners is that the two suspended teams may play under different names with the similar set of players. However, who will run the teams is being still evaluated.
IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla dropped a hint on similar grounds when he met a few Chennai Super Kings fans outside a five-star hotel in Bandra on Saturday. The fans submitted a written petition to Shukla to save Chennai Super Kings from termination.
They also urged him to retain MS Dhoni as CSK captain. To this, Shukla, quipped: "I hope you'll don't want the same owner." The working group on Saturday met Mumbai Indians representative Nikhil Meswani, Kings XI Punjab's owners Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia, and officials from Sunrisers Hyderabad.
They had also invited broadcasters Sony and Star, and sponsors CEAT. Wadia urged the working group to improve the perception of the IPL and bring in some stability. "This is a massive opportunity to turnaround things. I'm an investor and would like to see better returns.
"I would have got better returns had I invested in mutual funds. Whether it is six teams, eight teams or 10 teams... whatever they decided, it is important to have some stability now," said Wadia after the meeting.
