‘Transparency’ remains the key word as BCCI clears Ahmedabad franchise | Cricket News – Times of India
MUMBAI: Ahead of what is going to be a ‘game-changing’ year for the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Indian cricket in general, the BCCI is leaving no stone unturned to ensure transparency remains the key word.
The tender process to sell the two new franchises got underway in August last year and right from floating the ITT to eventually inviting the bids in the last week of October, the Board went about in a manner that reflected due-diligence and clarity.
“The BCCI is usually a body that ends up receiving flak in most things they do. Except, this time, they’ve taken utmost care to not just do things the right way but also to be seen as doing things the right way,” say those tracking developments.
It is because of this reason that despite selling the two new franchises on October 25, the Board still took a good two-and-half months to sign on the Letter of Intent (LOI) with the Ahmedabad franchise.
“It wasn’t because the BCCI did not believe in the validity of the new franchise and the bidders. Yet, BCCI secretary Jay Shah thought it was vital to clarify any and all doubts before signing on the dotted line,” sources add.
It is for this reason, the BCCI appointed a three-member committee, that included a Supreme Court judge and the president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, to give an all-clear before officially allotting the Ahmedabad franchise.
“He’s (Shah) been off the media radar but absolutely clear about what is the right thing to do. Little things that matter. For instance, appointing Rahul Dravid as head coach, ensuring someone of the stature of VVS Laxman gets associated with the National Cricket Academy (NCA). We’re told he’s now trying to convince Sachin Tendulkar to get into some role in the near future,” say BCCI members in the know.
Likewise, it was Shah’s decision to invite some of the leading global consultants like McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Redbird, Ernst & Young (EY) and KPMG among others to make presentations on the upcoming media rights sale, identify the processes to be put in place and ways to derive optimum value.
“All these parties made their presentations and eventually, KPMG was chosen. They’re now working closely with the BCCI to draw out the framework on what the auction process should entail,” say sources.
The Board also caught the International Cricket Council (ICC) off-guard by announcing in October that they would be coming out with the media rights tender soon after the sale of the new franchises – following which, ICC delayed its own media rights tender by a few months – and have now waited for the right time.
The BCCI is now likely to come out with the IPL tender document in February, soon after the player auctions. In fact, Shah is said to be of the view that the IPL Governing Council needs to call for a meeting of all franchise owners and top officials – a custom that used to be followed many years ago in the IPL by way of workshops – and brief them about the upcoming developments and how the Board sees it all playing out.
Back in October, when the two new franchises were being sold, the process was once again seen as a transparent one by the participating bidders. “One by one, each bidder’s company name and details were called, and the bidder had to stand up and spell out the details of the bid including the number mentioned in the bid document. The moment the bid numbers were shared over a microphone, it reflected on the giant screen inside the bidding room,” say bidders who were present at the venue.
The tender process to sell the two new franchises got underway in August last year and right from floating the ITT to eventually inviting the bids in the last week of October, the Board went about in a manner that reflected due-diligence and clarity.
“The BCCI is usually a body that ends up receiving flak in most things they do. Except, this time, they’ve taken utmost care to not just do things the right way but also to be seen as doing things the right way,” say those tracking developments.
It is because of this reason that despite selling the two new franchises on October 25, the Board still took a good two-and-half months to sign on the Letter of Intent (LOI) with the Ahmedabad franchise.
“It wasn’t because the BCCI did not believe in the validity of the new franchise and the bidders. Yet, BCCI secretary Jay Shah thought it was vital to clarify any and all doubts before signing on the dotted line,” sources add.
It is for this reason, the BCCI appointed a three-member committee, that included a Supreme Court judge and the president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, to give an all-clear before officially allotting the Ahmedabad franchise.
“He’s (Shah) been off the media radar but absolutely clear about what is the right thing to do. Little things that matter. For instance, appointing Rahul Dravid as head coach, ensuring someone of the stature of VVS Laxman gets associated with the National Cricket Academy (NCA). We’re told he’s now trying to convince Sachin Tendulkar to get into some role in the near future,” say BCCI members in the know.
Likewise, it was Shah’s decision to invite some of the leading global consultants like McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Redbird, Ernst & Young (EY) and KPMG among others to make presentations on the upcoming media rights sale, identify the processes to be put in place and ways to derive optimum value.
“All these parties made their presentations and eventually, KPMG was chosen. They’re now working closely with the BCCI to draw out the framework on what the auction process should entail,” say sources.
The Board also caught the International Cricket Council (ICC) off-guard by announcing in October that they would be coming out with the media rights tender soon after the sale of the new franchises – following which, ICC delayed its own media rights tender by a few months – and have now waited for the right time.
The BCCI is now likely to come out with the IPL tender document in February, soon after the player auctions. In fact, Shah is said to be of the view that the IPL Governing Council needs to call for a meeting of all franchise owners and top officials – a custom that used to be followed many years ago in the IPL by way of workshops – and brief them about the upcoming developments and how the Board sees it all playing out.
Back in October, when the two new franchises were being sold, the process was once again seen as a transparent one by the participating bidders. “One by one, each bidder’s company name and details were called, and the bidder had to stand up and spell out the details of the bid including the number mentioned in the bid document. The moment the bid numbers were shared over a microphone, it reflected on the giant screen inside the bidding room,” say bidders who were present at the venue.
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