With the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) terminating Deccan Chargers' contract and floating a tender for a new franchise in the Indian Premier League(IPL), top corporates have shown keen interest in bagging a team of their own.
While the Jaypee Group and leading industrialist Gautam Adani have made no bones about their interest, one man who could hold the edge is Potluri Vara Prasad - owner of PVP Ventures.
Although the BCCI have kept the bidding process pretty straightforward, it is believed that PVP Ventures - who had earlier tried to help the financially crippled Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd (DCHL) and buy Deccan Chargers - have a top board official backing them.
A senior BCCI official said that PVP Ventures could well end up owning the new franchise after their attempt to buy Deccan turned futile.
"PVP Ventures' plan to buy Deccan Chargers might have been foiled after DCHL didn't like the terms of payment, but it won't come as a surprise if they end up winning the bid and own the new franchise. Even when they had bid for Deccan, their tender was in complete accordance with IPL rules and regulations," the Board official told Mail Today.
"The very fact that a formal announcement was made that PVP Ventures' bid met BCCI's eligibility and suitability criteria was an indication that the board wanted to keep the door open for future negotiations with them. There was discussion within the board that the offer made by PVP -Rs.90 crore over five years - was a good one even under normal circumstances, let alone while bailing out DCHL," he said.
The release from BCCI had read: "The bid that was received by DCHL met the BCCI's eligibility and suitability criteria.
The bid was then reviewed by DCHL who, in its discretion and with no role being played by BCCI, rejected the bid on the basis of the payment terms offered by the bidders."
The official further said that the process of floating the tender document and rushing up matters with regard to inviting bids for the new franchise was done keeping in mind PVP's case.
"Generally these things take a little time. But this time round, the board swung into action immediately and the tender was floated and closing date for submission of bids announced. The whole course of action was hastened keeping in mind PVP's keen interest to buy an IPL team," the official said.
On the issue of where exactly the new team will hail from if PVP won the bid, the official said: "One shouldn't be too surprised if the new team hails from Hyderabad. Vishakhapatnam is another option that PVP Ventures could look at."
While the Jaypee Group and leading industrialist Gautam Adani have made no bones about their interest, one man who could hold the edge is Potluri Vara Prasad - owner of PVP Ventures.
Although the BCCI have kept the bidding process pretty straightforward, it is believed that PVP Ventures - who had earlier tried to help the financially crippled Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd (DCHL) and buy Deccan Chargers - have a top board official backing them.
A senior BCCI official said that PVP Ventures could well end up owning the new franchise after their attempt to buy Deccan turned futile.
"PVP Ventures' plan to buy Deccan Chargers might have been foiled after DCHL didn't like the terms of payment, but it won't come as a surprise if they end up winning the bid and own the new franchise. Even when they had bid for Deccan, their tender was in complete accordance with IPL rules and regulations," the Board official told Mail Today.
"The very fact that a formal announcement was made that PVP Ventures' bid met BCCI's eligibility and suitability criteria was an indication that the board wanted to keep the door open for future negotiations with them. There was discussion within the board that the offer made by PVP -Rs.90 crore over five years - was a good one even under normal circumstances, let alone while bailing out DCHL," he said.
The release from BCCI had read: "The bid that was received by DCHL met the BCCI's eligibility and suitability criteria.
The bid was then reviewed by DCHL who, in its discretion and with no role being played by BCCI, rejected the bid on the basis of the payment terms offered by the bidders."
The official further said that the process of floating the tender document and rushing up matters with regard to inviting bids for the new franchise was done keeping in mind PVP's case.
"Generally these things take a little time. But this time round, the board swung into action immediately and the tender was floated and closing date for submission of bids announced. The whole course of action was hastened keeping in mind PVP's keen interest to buy an IPL team," the official said.
On the issue of where exactly the new team will hail from if PVP won the bid, the official said: "One shouldn't be too surprised if the new team hails from Hyderabad. Vishakhapatnam is another option that PVP Ventures could look at."
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