New meeting ground

Sahara and BCCI met today and discussed all the outstanding issues,and it was agreed that the subject will be further discussed in the BCCI working committee meeting tomorrow, a joint statement issued after the meeting said. The interaction was focused on the interest of Indian cricket,including the Indian Premier League IPL, it added.

Sahara India was represented by chairman Subrata Roy,while BCCI president N Srinivasan,secretary Sanjay Jagdale,treasurer Ajay Shirke and IPL chief Rajiv Shukla were part of the meeting,which lasted close to 90 minutes at a five-star hotel in Mumbai.

Sahara India isnt only eyeing Jadeja,sold in a tie-breaker to Chennai after bidding during the auction had to be stopped at the cap of 2 million.

They want the IPL governing council to make available three Team India players of their choice even those who play for other teams. These players,the Pune team owners said,must be made available to them at the base price rather than the price at which they were sold following the bidding between teams last year. They also want permission granted to field five foreigners in the playing XI,while IPL rules allow a team to field only four foreigners.

Part refund of franchise fee

A discount/refund of 27 per cent on their franchise fee is another of their demands,it is learnt. They feel that the reduced number of matches played last year 8211; 74 instead of 94 8211; has resulted in a loss of revenue. Sahara India had paid 370 million to buy the rights to own the Pune Warriors side.

Sahara India also wants to bring on board a strategic partner,who may be part-owner,for the Pune team.

It is learnt that while BCCI officials decided to discuss Saharas demands at its working committee meeting,they are of the opinion that some of the demands are difficult to meet.

You cant shift a player from one team to another. We will see what can be done after consulting all our members at the working committee meeting, a BCCI official said.

Sahara,however,pointed to the fact that a precedent had been made when it came to tweaking rules in the past. Like Mumbai Indians were allowed to play five foreign players in Champions League the BCCI should consider Pune Warriorss request as a special case. We have only one marquee player in Yuvraj Singh, a Sahara India insider said.

A BCCI official also said that Sahara India could consider continuing as the sponsor of the Indian cricket team if all their demands with regard to the Pune team are met.

Sahara had pulled out on the morning of the auction and withdrew as sponsor of the Indian team on February 4 after the BCCI rejected their demand to add the price of Yuvraj Singh,currently undergoing treatment for cancer,to their auction kitty and the refund of a part of the franchise fee on account of lesser number of matches played last season.