BCCI to seek fresh legal opinion on CSK valuation issue

In a step that could spell further trouble for its former chief N Srinivasan, the BCCI on Sunday decided to seek a fresh legal opinion on the demerger and transfer of shares of IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings.

The matter was deliberated at length at the first working committee meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India under the new dispensation with Jagmohan Dalmiya as president.

"The committee decided to seek a fresh legal opinion on the demerger and transfer of shares of CSK for further action," BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said in a release after the meeting at a plush five star hotel here.

The valuation of the de-merger of three-time Indian Premier League champions CSK from its parent company, the Srinivasan-owned India Cements at a meagre Rs.5 lakh has drawn the hackles of the media and a section in the board.

Srinivasan and India Cements are understood to have claimed that Chennai Super Kings Private Limited is worth just Rs.5 lakh, prompting sections in the IPL governing body to talk of "grey areas" in the valuation of the francisee. CSK pays Rs.40 crore as annual franchisee fee and spends over Rs.60 crore for the players' remuneration every year.