BCCI source rules out rebid for IPL's Kochi franchise

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has ruled out any rebid for the Kochi franchise of the IPL tournament won by Rendezvous Sports.

A BCCI office-bearer, who was privy to the bidding process, told Business Standard on condition of anonymity, “There is no question of conducting any further auction for a team that has already been allotted to a franchisee. The bid document had been prepared after prolonged discussions and any changes that are being talked about now should have been made earlier.”

He said the bidding process involved a huge sum of money. The winner of the Kochi franchise would be making a payment of $333.33 million (Rs 1,480 crore) and at this point, it was not commercially viable to make alterations. Further, he said, BCCI was not concerned with individual ownership of teams. This meant BCCI was not subscribing to what IPL commissioner Lalit Modi had to say about the Kochi franchise.

“The attempt to sabotage the Kochi franchise could be the handiwork of some disgruntled individuals who failed to buy a team for the next season. We will not attach any importance to such malicious attempts,” said the source.

Modi had publicly disclosed the names of some of the owners of the consortium that bought the franchisee.