There seems to be no respite from controversies for the Kochi IPL franchise. In fresh developments, it has been reported that Vipul Shah of Parani Developers and 2 others of the Kochi team were raided in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
The Kochi IPL team, which will be making its maiden appearance at the Indian Premier League this season, will henceforth be known as "Kochi Tuskers Kerala", sources said.
Kerala government and other sport lovers of the state on Sunday welcomed the Board of Control for Cricket in India's decision to give approval to Kochi IPL team.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) might have given Kochi IPL team a fresh lease of life by giving them a 30-day deadline to resolve all their problems, but it seems the consortium is a fighting a losing battle.
Noting that time is running out for the Kochi IPL team, Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) Secretary TC Mathews on Wednesday said that only a miracle could now save the franchise from getting the axe.
When the Kochi IPL team was won after a whopping bid of US $333 million (Rs 1533 crores), -- the second-most costliest purchase in the Twenty20 tournament -- it sent shockwaves around the country.
The Income Tax (I-T) department has said Tharoor did not benefit from the Kochi IPL deal. Meanwhile, the finance ministry has said that the I-T department is probing IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi's offshore money and trying to find out if stakeholders are fronts for Modi.
Embroiled in a major controversy over its stakeholders, the Kochi IPL franchisee on Thursday effected a change in its top management, appointing Dubai-based businessman Harshad Mehta as its Chairman.
The Shashi Tharoor-Lalit Modi stand-off over the Kochi IPL team reached the Supreme Court on Tuesday with a petition seeking a CBI probe into the Union Minister's alleged proxy stakes in the Rs 1533-crore franchise, won by a consortium, Rendezvous Sports World. Alternatively, the petition urged the apex court to constitute a special investigation team to probe the allegations.
According to one of the Kochi team co-owners, Modi had driven them to 'madness'.
Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi's lawyer Mehmood Abdi said that his client stands vindicated on the controversy surrounding the erstwhile Kochi franchise following outbursts by Shahshi Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar who died recently.
Sunanda Pushkar on Sunday quit Rendezvous Sports World which is a stakeholder in IPL Kochi after she decided to return her free equity worth Rs 70 crore to the franchise in a last ditch attempt to save her friend, Union minister Shashi Tharoor.
Unable to resolve their differences, the Kochi franchise have withdrawn from the Indian Premier League (IPL) barely two days before the expiry of their one-month deadline, paving the way for the Board of Control for Cricket in India to issue a new tender for a replacement team.
Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi has threatened to sue Rendezvous Sports. The action comes after Rendevous alleged that Modi had bribed them to withdraw from the race.
Told to take money and withdraw, the successful but frightened Kochi franchise winners seek Sonia's protection.
The players' auction for the forthcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) would be held in January, while a decision on the Kochi franchise will be taken after November 27, the BCCI said in Mumbai on Wednesday.
IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi on Sunday exuded confidence of resolving the controversy over ownership of Kochi franchise saying he had no personal issue either with the team owners or Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor.
Sunanda, who was not married to Tharoor then, had refuted allegations of any wrongdoing.
Both Houses of Parliament had to be adjourned on Friday during Question Hour after Opposition parties created an uproar demanding that Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor submit his resignation over the Kochi IPL ownership controversy.
Sources say that there are serious reservations over the style of functioning of Lalit Modi who appears to have become "more and more high handed and autocratic" with each passing day and one option being considered is to appoint a full time paid professional IPL commissioner to run the league with Modi being made the chairman with much less powers.
The Corporate Affairs Ministry is learnt to have found no recorded evidence so far of sweat equity being given to Sunanda Pushkar, a close friend of former union minister Shashi Tharoor, by owners of the Kochi IPL team, Rendezvous Sports.
'Lalit Modi has raised questions; like it or not, answers must be forthcoming,' says TVR Shenoy.
Amid fast-moving developments in the controversy surrounding the Kochi IPL franchise, the BCCI on Sunday decided to put off its Working Committee meeting, which was scheduled on Saturday.
Amid indications that investors of the Kochi IPL franchise have withdrawn, BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla said the Board has received "certain letters" from the consortium's stakeholders and a final decision on the troubled team would be taken on November 28.
Kochi Tuskers Kerala, which is making its debut in the 2011 edition of the Indian Premier League, on Wednesday introduced its players and launched its promotional logo for the Twenty20 tournament starting on Friday.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council will meet on November 17 at the Mumbai Cricket Association's Recreation Centre at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, a Cricket Board official said.
In a respite for the squabbling Kochi IPL consortium, the BCCI on Wednesday gave the franchise 30 more days to resolve its disputes or risk termination from the high-profile league.
Trouble for beleaguered minister of state for external affairs, Shashi Tharoor grew on Friday with opposition paralysing Parliament demanding his removal and his own ministerial colleague Farooq Abdullah favouring his stepping down to protect the "honour" of the government.
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor's security has been tightened following an SMS death threat received by him from Mumbai.The SMS was reportedly sent by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's associate Chhota Shakeel.In the SMS, Tharoor was asked to apologise to Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi over the Kochi IPL team standoff.Tharoor has reportedly written to the home ministry about the death threat, following which his security has been tightened.
Rendezvous Sports World Limited co-owner Vivek Venugopal on the IPL franchise's plans for the Kochi team.
Contrary to news reports, former Australian fast bowler and ex-Pakistan team coach Geoff Lawson has already been named as the coach the new Kochi IPL franchise in the T20 League's 2011 edition.
The squabbling Kochi IPL franchise on Sunday got yet another breather from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which decided to defer the decision on its fate till December 5 after the consortium's investors reached a last-minute agreement over their shareholding pattern.
Amidst indications that the investors group of the Kochi IPL team is not too keen in running the franchisee, the IPL Governing Council is likely to take a call on scrapping the team during its meeting at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The Kochi IPL controversy also draws attention to the clout of Gulf-based Keralites
Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary party chief L K Advani on Saturday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to sack Shashi Tharoor in the wake of the minister of state for external affairs getting embroiled in the Kochi IPL team ownership controversy. "The prime minister must drop Shashi Tharoor from the council of ministers because of gross impropriety unbecoming of the office he is occupying," Advani said.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has held consultations with senior party leaders ahead of Opposition's plans to raise the controversy surrounding Union Minister Shashi Tharoor's alleged murky deals in the Indian Premier League in Parliament on Friday.
Sharad Pawar came out in support of IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi, saying there was nothing wrong in making public names of the stakeholders of the Kochi franchise.
Adding a new twist to the Kochi IPL franchise drama, Union Minister for Agriculture and the BCCI president Sharad Pawar revealed on Thursday that members of the consortium that won the Kochi IPL franchise wanted to be based in Anmedabad.
The Congress rejected as absurd the Bharatiya Janata Party's demand that Union Minister Shashi Tharoor be sacked over the IPL controversy and said it was up to the cricket board to decide on allegations of impropriety over his role in the Kochi IPL team.
Former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor is hoping that the Kochi IPL team will be able to compete in the fourth edition, following the BCCI's decision to postpone a final decision on its fate to December 5.
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