In a climb-down, the Board of Control for Cricket in India Monday made an attempt to save its partnership with Team India sponsor and IPL franchise owner Sahara India.
The peace dialogue will be at the highest level with both sides entrusting the job to their chiefs - the board to its president N Srinivasan and Sahara to its chairman Subrata Roy.
Two days after Sahara's shock decision to end sponsorship of the national and Pune Warriors teams - accusing the BCCI of not helping it build a stronger IPL team - Srinivasan said, "We are ready to meet and sort out matters… They (Sahara) might have felt aggrieved... We had good relations and so we should sort out issues."
"I was surprised when I came to know. There was a brief conversation the (Friday) night before the (IPL) auction. He (Roy) expressed he was hurt. It was late in the evening and I did not expect them to pull out the next morning," he told a TV channel.
Getting Sahara onboard again is crucial to Srinivasan personally, too, as his past actions are being seen as the root of the problem. Rules were reportedly phrased in a way that helped his IPL team, the Chennai Super Kings. If the matter is not resolved, he may not have the backing of all board members.
{{/usCountry}}Getting Sahara onboard again is crucial to Srinivasan personally, too, as his past actions are being seen as the root of the problem. Rules were reportedly phrased in a way that helped his IPL team, the Chennai Super Kings. If the matter is not resolved, he may not have the backing of all board members.
{{/usCountry}}Sahara seems to have chosen its moment well as the BCCI is reeling from negative publicity following the team's poor show and too many controversies.
Roy, who had a busy travel schedule Monday, revealed the board chief had opened communication lines but a meeting would be possible only at the end of the week. For now, the group is sticking to its stand and even if convinced, might only be interested in running the IPL team.
"It's all very well that they've spoken of positive intentions in the media, but the final outcome will depend on what conditions they want to reconcile," a Sahara supporter said.