NEW DELHI: Key members of a consortium that won the franchise for the Kochi Indian Premier League (IPL) side wanted the team to be based Ahmedabad and not Kerala's commercial hub, former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar told Economic Times on Wednesday.
Four members of the consortium, who together own a majority stake in the franchise, met him after the auction for the new IPL sides and requested his help in transferring the Kochi team to Ahmedabad, the veteran politician told ET, the first time he has spoken out since the controversy over the ownership of the Kochi franchise erupted.
“We told them please don't do this at this stage and let the team stay in Kochi,” said Mr Pawar, whose Nationalist Congress Party is a key part of the ruling United Progressive Alliance.
He declined to name the persons who met him.
IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said after he had signed the documents allocating the Kochi team to Rendezvous on Sunday, two members of the consortium—Harshad Mehta of Rosy Blue Diamonds and Mehul Shah of Anchor Earth—came to him and asked if the team could still be transferred to Ahmedabad. The two companies together own a 38% stake in the team.
“They first came to me, and I told them I can't do the transfer and they must approach Mr Pawar and (Gujarat chief minister) Narendra Modi,” he said.
Narendra Modi, who is also the chairman of the Gujarat Cricket Association, also told ET that the investors met him expressing a desire for an IPL team based in the state. The meeting took place before the consortium won the bid for a team in Kochi, he said.
There have been insinuations in the media and a spate of rumours in Delhi's political circles that Sharad Pawar was among those who wanted the new team to go to a different city.
There is a lot of yellow journalism. I don't pay attention,” Pawar said.
He added that he has a text message from the beleaguered minister of state for external affairs, Shashi Tharoor, thanking him for his support to the Kochi team.
