BCCI gives Deccan Chargers time till Sep 15 to sort out mess

"We have given them time to sort out all their financial problems and get back to us by September 15 and we expect them to come back to us by that time," IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla told PTI.

Asked whether a franchise owner can sell the team, he said it can be done.

The BCCI decision comes on a day when Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd Chairman T Venkattram Reddy was quoted by a leading financial daily as saying that they were in talks with unidentified parties for sale of the IPL franchise.

Reddy could not be reached for comments on the BCCI decision.

The Deccan Chronicle group, currently facing a financial crisis, had mortgaged assets of the team to banks to raise funds without the consent of BCCI.

In June this year, the group had said it has appointed Religare Capital Markets Ltd to advise it on selling of Deccan Chargers following approach "by multiple parties evincing interest in acquiring stake in the company's IPL team".

The Deccan Chronicle group had acquired the franchise for USD 107 million in 2008. After finishing last in the first season of the IPL, Deccan Chargers won the second season held in South Africa in 2009.