After walkout,talks

IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla says contentious issues can be discussed with the Pune owners

Taking a cue from Sahara India chairman Subrata Roys climbdown on Saturday evening,just hours after the business group pulled out of the Indian Premier League,the Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI officials reciprocated and said that they would try to find a middle ground.

On Sunday,BCCI officials held closed-door meetings to discuss Sahara Indias unexpected walkout. A compromise could be worked out over the next few days,it is learnt. The IPL Governing Council has promised to address Saharas concerns reasonably.

Roy had said that he was open to fielding Pune Warriors if the BCCI failed to find a buyer for the team. This was a mellowed down stand of the statement issued on Saturday morning which categorically said that Sahara India was withdrawing from cricket that was under the BCCI/IPL umbrella.

IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla told The Indian Express on Sunday that he was hopeful that contentious matters would be solved. We are always open for negotiations and we have always maintained that its best to talk one-on-one. We hope for an amicable solution. From our side,we have still not got anything in written from their part and we treat this as an opportunity to discuss some issues. We are hopeful that all matters will be solved and Pune Warriors will play in the fifth season, Shukla said.

As part of a compromise formula,the IPL governing council is looking at the option of allowing Sahara India to buy unsold players using their 1.6 million auction purse. They could also allow Sahara to add Yuvraj Singhs price,of 1.8 million,to their purse. According to IPL rules,teams are only allowed to buy unsold players from the balance of the auction money from last season when the mega auction was held.

It is still unclear if these concessions will be enough for Sahara India to return to the IPL fold.

Before announcing their decision to pull out of the IPL,Sahara had demanded that Yuvrajs price be added to their auction kitty on Saturday. The rejection of this demand was the immediate trigger for Sahara India to pull the plug on the Pune IPL side and withdraw as sponsor of the Indian team.

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We will not do anything that will harm the interest of the players. The players are our main concern. As of now we are undecided whether we will participate or not, Abhijit Sarkar,head corporate communications,Sahara,said on Sunday.

However,it waits to be seen what top IPL officials think of Saharas demand for an open auction,their biggest contention,as opposed to the current policy of teams have the right to retain top players of their choice. The current contracts of all players are valid only till the end of the fifth season. Pune team owners are also demanding that teams be allowed to be retain only three players instead of four if the open auction demand is not met.

No to Team India

Meanwhile,it is reliably learnt that Sahara though,isnt keen on renewing their Team India sponsorship and are likely to move out after the tri-series in Australia. According to sources,corporate giants like Airtel 8211; BCCIs domestic cricket sponsor,Hero Motors,Reliance,Future Group are interested in sponsoring the team.