BCCI extends hand, says open to talks with Sahara
The dispute between the BCCI and Sahara India appears to be reaching resolution with senior officials of the Indian board saying it was open to dialogue with one of its oldest business partners. The simmering dispute came to a head on Saturday when Sahara announced its decision to pull out of its sponsorship of the Indian team and ownership of the Pune Warriors IPL franchise.
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N Srinivasan, the BCCI president, said the board appreciated its ties with Sahara. "The BCCI is open to dialogue, we recognise the long relationship we have had with Sahara, we have no problems facing this," Srinivasan told Times Now, an Indian news channel. "We've had an excellent relationship with Sahara for the last 12 years.
"We can't prejudge what issues will be discussed when BCCI and Sahara meet, but we recognise the relationship with them and are sure of sorting out the issue. They might have felt aggrieved and did not get what they wanted from the IPL."
Asked if he was sending out a message of reconciliation, Srinivasan said, "Personally, yes. I am open to dialogue and BCCI is open to dialogue. We recognise there were grievances on their part but there was no reason to break suddenly.
The unstated grievance seems to be a sense of dismay that the BCCI did not pull out all stops to prevent Sahara from pulling out - in particular, not postponing the auction. Sources in Sahara say the BCCI top brass was well aware of Sahara's impending decision and had in fact received an ultimatum on Friday evening. "Sahara had given a cut off time of 9 am on Saturday, asking the BCCI to accept some of their requests. But no one responded to that," a Sahara source told ESPNcricinfo.
"The auction was starting at 11 am. Being aware of the situation and that Sahara were going to leave after 9 am, at least they could have called the Sahara people to see if they could sit and re-negotiate," the source said. "It is question of the IPL as a tournament. Pune Warriors is only one of the franchises. Why could they not try one more time?"
In contrast to Srinivasan's statement of reconciliation, the BCCI's first detailed response to Sahara's decision was to call Sahara's decision "unfortunate".
Sahara had announced its decision to walk away from Indian cricket on February 4, an hour before the IPL auction was due to begin. They did not take part in the auction in Bangalore. In its formal statement, Sahara referred to several points of dispute with the BCCI, dating back to its first sponsorship deal in 2001 but largely relating to the IPL. It said it would "continue paying the sponsorship money" to the BCCI for a period of "2-4 months" it would take to find a new sponsor.
One point of dispute was around Yuvraj Singh, who is currently being treated for cancer and is not expected to play this season. Sahara had wanted his $1.8 million salary added to the Pune Warriors' purse in the auction held in Bangalore, a request it said was denied by the BCCI. Asked about this, Srinivasan said, "Decisions related to IPL are taken by the Governing Council. The auction is over now. We can't pre-judge what the BCCI and Sahara will discuss. There should be an element of secrecy in that. We should sit down and see how things can be sorted out."
Srinivasan, who was not in Bangalore for the auction, said Sahara's decision had taken him by surprise . "I was surprised when I came to know (about Sahara ending sponsorship). There was a brief conversation the night before the auction. He (Subrata Roy, the Sahara chief) said he was hurt. It was a bit late in the evening and I did not expect they would pull out the next morning.
"It has been an up and down relationship but I hope most of the issues will be resolved when we meet. There is an opportunity to sit across the table with Sahara. All issues will be discussed but it will be premature to speak about the issues now."
Earlier in the day Rajiv Shukla, a BCCI vice-president and the IPL chairman, spoke on a similar theme. "We are open to discussions, open for dialogue because they have been our partner for 11 years. We don't want anything to be decided in haste. So far they [Sahara Pune Warriors] are still an IPL franchise, unless we get anything in writing from them. We are extremely positive."
The dispute between the BCCI and Sahara India appears to be reaching resolution with senior officials of the Indian board saying it was open to dialogue with one of its oldest business partners. The simmering dispute came to a head on Saturday when Sahara announced its decision to pull out of its sponsorship of the Indian team and ownership of the Pune Warriors IPL franchise.
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N Srinivasan, the BCCI president, said the board appreciated its ties with Sahara. "The BCCI is open to dialogue, we recognise the long relationship we have had with Sahara, we have no problems facing this," Srinivasan told Times Now, an Indian news channel. "We've had an excellent relationship with Sahara for the last 12 years.
"We can't prejudge what issues will be discussed when BCCI and Sahara meet, but we recognise the relationship with them and are sure of sorting out the issue. They might have felt aggrieved and did not get what they wanted from the IPL."
Asked if he was sending out a message of reconciliation, Srinivasan said, "Personally, yes. I am open to dialogue and BCCI is open to dialogue. We recognise there were grievances on their part but there was no reason to break suddenly.
The unstated grievance seems to be a sense of dismay that the BCCI did not pull out all stops to prevent Sahara from pulling out - in particular, not postponing the auction. Sources in Sahara say the BCCI top brass was well aware of Sahara's impending decision and had in fact received an ultimatum on Friday evening. "Sahara had given a cut off time of 9 am on Saturday, asking the BCCI to accept some of their requests. But no one responded to that," a Sahara source told ESPNcricinfo.
"The auction was starting at 11 am. Being aware of the situation and that Sahara were going to leave after 9 am, at least they could have called the Sahara people to see if they could sit and re-negotiate," the source said. "It is question of the IPL as a tournament. Pune Warriors is only one of the franchises. Why could they not try one more time?"
In contrast to Srinivasan's statement of reconciliation, the BCCI's first detailed response to Sahara's decision was to call Sahara's decision "unfortunate".
Sahara had announced its decision to walk away from Indian cricket on February 4, an hour before the IPL auction was due to begin. They did not take part in the auction in Bangalore. In its formal statement, Sahara referred to several points of dispute with the BCCI, dating back to its first sponsorship deal in 2001 but largely relating to the IPL. It said it would "continue paying the sponsorship money" to the BCCI for a period of "2-4 months" it would take to find a new sponsor.
One point of dispute was around Yuvraj Singh, who is currently being treated for cancer and is not expected to play this season. Sahara had wanted his $1.8 million salary added to the Pune Warriors' purse in the auction held in Bangalore, a request it said was denied by the BCCI. Asked about this, Srinivasan said, "Decisions related to IPL are taken by the Governing Council. The auction is over now. We can't pre-judge what the BCCI and Sahara will discuss. There should be an element of secrecy in that. We should sit down and see how things can be sorted out."
Srinivasan, who was not in Bangalore for the auction, said Sahara's decision had taken him by surprise . "I was surprised when I came to know (about Sahara ending sponsorship). There was a brief conversation the night before the auction. He (Subrata Roy, the Sahara chief) said he was hurt. It was a bit late in the evening and I did not expect they would pull out the next morning.
"It has been an up and down relationship but I hope most of the issues will be resolved when we meet. There is an opportunity to sit across the table with Sahara. All issues will be discussed but it will be premature to speak about the issues now."
Earlier in the day Rajiv Shukla, a BCCI vice-president and the IPL chairman, spoke on a similar theme. "We are open to discussions, open for dialogue because they have been our partner for 11 years. We don't want anything to be decided in haste. So far they [Sahara Pune Warriors] are still an IPL franchise, unless we get anything in writing from them. We are extremely positive."
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