T20 Cricket News

The BCCI has pushed back a decision on the controversial Kochi franchise sale by deferring its scheduled IPL working committee meeting from next Saturday till after the tournament is over and also deferring a meeting of the IPL governing council, which was to have taken place by April 23.

The BCCI's first official response to the controversy, which broke last weekend when Lalit Modi disclosed the details of the Kochi franchise ownership, was a statement on April 13 that a meeting of the IPL Governing Council would be convened "within 10 days to discuss all the issues and take a decision". It now appears that deadline will not be met, though no explanation has been given for the delay.

One fallout of Modi's Twitter revelation was to swing the spotlight on the IPL's financial dealings, and on Sunday the BCCI said it had received a summons from the income-tax department to furnish complete details of all eight original Indian Premier League franchises, who were successful bidders for the city-based teams in January 2008, on April 23. The taxmen have already carried out inspections of the IPL's offices and Modi's residence in Mumbai and also the Kings XI Punjab franchise office in Mohali.

"Day before yesterday they had asked for details only about the two new franchises - their shareholding patterns, addresses, player auction and bidding process. Now they want us to furnish all the details about the eight other franchises too," the BCCI's chief administrative officer, Ratnakar Shetty said.

News Source