Key Members of Consortium Wanted Kochi Team Shifted to Ahmedabad: Pawar

Giving a new twist to current Kochi IPL team controversy, former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has said that key members of a consortium that won the franchise for Kochi IPL side wanted the team to be based in Ahmedabad and not Kerala’s commercial hub, said media reports.

Talking to a newspaper, Pawar said that four members of the consortium, who together own a majority stake in the franchise, called on him after the auction for the new IPL sides and also requested that he help in transferring the Kochi team to Ahmedabad, said reports.

It’s first statement from the veteran politician even since the controversy broke out, though he refused to name the people who met him.

“We told them please don’t do this at this stage and let the team stay in Kochi,” Pawar was quoted as saying.

After signing the documents allocating Kochi team to Rendezvous on Sunday, IPL commissioner Lalit Modi disclosed that two members of the consortium – Harshad Mehta and Rosy Blue Diamonds and Mehul Shah of Anchor Earth – met him and asked whether the team could still be transferred to Ahmedabad, reports said.

“They first came to me, and I told them I can’t do the transfer and they must approach Mr Pawar and (Gujarat chief minister) Narendra Modi,” he was quoted as saying.

The two companies together own a 38% stake in the team.

Also, chief minister Narendra Modi, who is the chairman of the Gujarat Cricket Association, said that the investors met him expressing a desire for an IPL team based in the state, said reports.

He said that the meeting took place before the consortium won the bid for a team in Kochi, said reports.