ITV

Tag: Ranbir Singh Mahendra

  • Sharad Pawar new BCCI president

    Sharad Pawar new BCCI president

    MUMBAI: In the end, it was a knockout punch that the till now undisputed king of the Indian cricketing firmament Jagmohan Dalmiya received at the hands of political heavyweight and Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar.

    Much in the way the winds of change are blowing through the Indian cricket team, the 76th AGM of the Board of Control for Cricket in India held in Kolkata today witnessed the sweeping to power of Union Minister and Maharashtra Cricket Association chief Sharad Pawar. The final verdict: 20 votes in Pawar’s kitty versus 11 for Dalmiya candidate and incumbent president Ranbir Singh Mahendra.

    The other new office bearers of the BCCI who were also voted are Niranjan Shah as secretary, MP Pandove joint secretary, N Srinivasan treasurer.

    Addressing the press after his victory, Pawar said, “Our focus will be on developing basic infrastructure for cricket in India. With the collective effort of the BCCI body, we will be able to give justice to the young budding players and the cricket loving people of India. We expect full cooperation from the outgoing president Mr Mahendra and all those who were associated with BCCI for the last one year.”

    “I am confident of victory,” Pawar had earlier told reporters before heading for the AGM. And he was proved right on the count.

    A jubilant Shah said, “Our priority will be to streamline the entire system.”

    Declining to comment on other things, he said, “It would take us three – four days to assume office. We will talk about cricket and nothing else.”

  • Ranbir Singh Mahendra on ‘Hardtalk India’ on 17 June

    Ranbir Singh Mahendra on ‘Hardtalk India’ on 17 June

    BBC World' Hardtalk India will showcase Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chairman of Indian cricket’s governing body Ranbir Singh Mahendra on 17 June. The show will air at 9 pm.

    The repeat will follow on 19 June at 12 pm. The programme is presented by Karan Thapar and produced by Infotainment Television.

    Mahendra says Ganguly “has to improve” and hopes a CEO will deal with business in new headquarters in Delhi, in a statement issued by BBC.

    The chairman of Indian cricket’s governing body tells BBC World on Hardtalk India that Sourav Ganguly’s form “is a matter of concern” and “the Selection Committee is definitely going to look into it”.

    Ranbir Singh Mahendra also says he is seriously thinking of appointing a chief executive officer this year to take care of the general business of the BCCI.

    He hopes that the organisation’s offices will also move from Mumbai to Delhi, he reveals to the Hardtalk India programme.

  • BCCI to invite fresh bids for TV rights

    BCCI to invite fresh bids for TV rights

    MUMBAI: After a controversial telecast rights saga, which had kept the rights of domestic cricket in limbo, the Indian cricket board has decided to invite fresh bids.

    The norms and guidelines are to be framed by a marketing committee to be set up soon, according to Press Trust of India (PTI) report.

    The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) working committee, which met in Thiruvananthapuram over the past two days, also decided to file a Rs 100 million defamation suit against Netaji Cricket Club of Chennai (NCC) for dragging it to court over the legality of last year’s elections, the agency report stated.

    The Committee authorised Board president Ranbir Singh Mahendra to take a decision on Vice President Kamal Morarka’s complaint against Rajasthan Cricket Association chief Lalit Modi.

    Morarka had alleged that Modi was convicted on charges of kidnapping and smuggling in the US 20 years ago and demanded the later’s removal from all posts in the Board, the agency reported.

    Besides ratifying the appointment of Greg Chappell as the national coach, the board decided on the future itinerary of the Indian cricket team.

    Addressing the media after the meeting, Mahendra said the Board decided to spare Tamil Nadu Cricket Association of any stringent action including suspension of grants and financial assistance provided the latter assured it would not co-operate with the two of its affiliates, the Bharti Club and the Theyagaraya Cricket Club, who have filed a series of petitions against the BCCI, the agency reported.

    The appointment of a media manager for the Board would be decided by September this year.

    BCCI vice-president Kamal Morarka, who had flown back to Mumbai after the first day, said with the Supreme Court upholding the Board’s decision to cancel the contract provisionally awarded to Zee Network, the decks were cleared for a fresh tender process.

    “The marketing committee comprises the president, the secretary and the vice presidents of the Board. The president will decide if anyone should be included as well,” Morarka said.

    “The dates of inviting the tenders, as well as the norms like the period of rights, will be decided by the marketing Committee,” he added.

  • Zee Vs BCCI case hearing continues Friday; Pak tour delayed

    Zee Vs BCCI case hearing continues Friday; Pak tour delayed

    MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) stated today that Pakistan’s upcoming tour of India would in all likelihood be delayed by four to five days. The announcement was made by BCCI president Ranbir Singh Mahendra in the capital even as down south, the Madras High Court, which is hearing a petition brought against the Indian cricket board on the issue of telecast rights, said arguments would continue tomorrow.

    The board also said that in deference to the Pakistan side’s objections to playing a Test in Ahmedabad, the scene of communal riots in 2002, it had offered the Pakistan team the option to play a One-Day International in Ahmedabad instead, with the Test fixture being shifted to Kolkata. Pakistan is scheduled to play three Tests and five ODIs on their upcoming tour of India.

    The court case, meanwhile, pertains to a plea filed by Zee Telefilms contending that cancellation of the bidding process by the BCCI amounted to breach of its fundamental rights under Article 226 of the Indian Constitution. The board, in a counter affidavit filed yesterday, had told the court that since it owned the telecast rights, it was entitled to have dealings with anyone it chose to and had sought dismissal of Zee’s petition. The court had earlier passed an injunction restraining the board from awarding television telecast rights to any broadcaster or party while the case was being heard.

    Mahendra’s declaration that the Pakistan tour would be delayed has like as not a lot to do with the fact that till the court delivers a ruling, the BCCI cannot negotiate with any broadcaster, including Indian pubcaster Doordarshan, on the rights for the upcoming series that is scheduled to begin early March.

    Along with the Zee petition, there is also a plea filed earlier by ESPN Star Sports in the Supreme Court seeking legal protection against BCCI awarding cricket rights to anybody else without considering ESS’ bid too.

    That the board is in a bind of its own making is clear from the comments Mahendra made on the rights’ issue. He said the matter would not be taken up until the board received a directive from the court.

    And judging from the inconclusiveness of today’s day-long hearing, there is no surety that the court will deliver a verdict tomorrow either.

    In the event the case drags, one option the board has is to revisit an earlier proposal it had been considering that envisaged producing the cricket matches itself, buying time on a channel for telecast like producers of sponsored serials on Doordarshan do and then marketing commercial time. Or else the tried and tested patchwork solution used on earlier occasions could be brought to bear on the proceedings: Seek the Supreme Court’s intervention “in light of the urgency of the matter”. If the second (more likely) option is taken, then the apex court would in all probability clear the decks for DD to telecast pending a final verdict.

    The series against Australia and South Africa earlier in the season were also telecast by DD.

    But if, as it looks more and more likely now, DD does get the telecast by default, one thing that the board can kiss goodbye to is a whole load of money. Going by the board’s own admission, not awarding the rights to a private broadcaster during the South Africa and Australia series cost it a cool Rs 1.5 billion. And that too after subtracting the Rs 1 billion the board received from Prasar Bharati for the two series.

    The upcoming series is worth much, much more!

  • BCCI invites DD to bid for telecast rights of Indo-Pak series

    BCCI invites DD to bid for telecast rights of Indo-Pak series

    NEW DELHI: Even as the Supreme Court is hearing cricket-related cases, the Indian cricket board has asked Indian pubcaster Doordarshan to make a bid for the telecast rights of the forthcoming India-Pakistan series.

    A senior official of Prasar Bharati, which manages DD and All India Radio, today admitted that a request has come from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) urging DD to bid for the Indo-Pak series.

    The official indicated that considering the controversy telecast rights have got entangled in, the pubcaster stands a good chance of bagging the rights; albeit by default.

    Though the official confirmed that DD would put in a bid, after doing some revenue projections, he refused to indicate any figures.

    The Prasar Bharati official also said that from the just-concluded cricket series featuring India,South Africa and Australia and the lone one-dayer against Pakistan, revenues worth approximately Rs 1 billion had been mopped up by DD.

    Considering that BCCI would be paid Rs 820 million as a rights fee — after taking into account reduced number of actual playing days due to truncated Tests on some controversial pitches — DD claims to have ended up making some profit.

    SC RESUMES HEARINGS IN BCCI CASE

    Meanwhile, the Supreme Court today observed that election of president for BCCI should be held in such a manner that it should be acceptable to the general public considering the importance of the Board.

    According to a Press Trust of India (PTI) report, this observation came from a bench headed by N Santosh Hegde, which was hearing a petition filed by the BCCI challenging a Madras High Court order restraining the newly elected Board from functioning, and appointing Justice S Mohan as an interim administrator.

    The apex court had stayed the Madras High Court order allowing BCCI president Ranbir Singh Mahendra to resume function, but had restrained former president Jagmohan Dalmiya from becoming the patron-in-chief.

    BCCI counsel A M Singhvi argued that Board had committed no irregularities by preventing certain so-called representatives of the state cricket associations as their legally nominated representatives took part in the election held at Kolkata.

    Earlier, BCCI informed the Supreme Court that Dalmiya is discharging functions as the president of the Board as the old Board headed by him has not ended its tenure.

    Appearing for BCCI, senior advocate A M Singhvi said as the AGM of the Board at Kolkata on September 29 and 30 could not be concluded due to an interim order by a Chennai civil court, the old Board under Dalmiya still continues to function.

    The bench said “that means de jure today Ranbir Singh Mahendra is not the president of BCCI,” PTI reported.

    The bench also told the counsel: “When we permitted the new office bearers’ functioning, you had not brought this to our notice.”

    Arguments relating to this case are likely to continue tomorrow also.

  • BCCI challenges Madras HC order in Supreme Court

    BCCI challenges Madras HC order in Supreme Court

    NEW DELHI: Even as the Indian cricket team — or should it be called the BCCI XI? — was left staring at a humiliating defeat in the Bangalore Test match against Australia, cricket managers in India were busy fighting their own battles in the court.

    As expected, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Madras High Court’s order restraining all its newly elected office-bearers from functioning.

    BCCI has sought a stay of the Madras HC order on the ground that the high court committed “gross error” in entertaining the review petition filed by Netaji Cricket Club when the BCCI had not violated any of the undertakings given by it before the Court, the Press Trust of India reported today.

    A division bench of Madras HC in its order yesterday had restrained newly elected president Ranbir Singh Mahendra and other office-bearers from functioning, while appointing retired Supreme Court Judge S Mohan as interim administrator to run the affairs of the Board, subject to his consent.

    The order was passed on the petitioner’s demand for setting aside the elections held in Kolkata on 29 September, restraining the newly-elected office bearers from functioning and appointment of an interim administrator to conduct the Board’s affairs till the disposal of the petition.

    Mahendra had been elected in a highly contentious election after narrowly beating Maharashtra politician Sharad Pawar 16-15 with the help of the casting vote by the outgoing president Jagmohan Dalmiya.

  • BCCI says Sony to telecast, Ten Sports to handle production

    BCCI says Sony to telecast, Ten Sports to handle production

    MUMBAI / NEW DELHI: It was an up and down sort of day for Indian cricket supremo Jagmohan Dalmiya, fresh off his bruising victory over Maharashtra political heavyweight and Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar last evening in elections held to decide who would succeed him as president.

    And true to form, the ongoing soap opera that has made India a laughing stock in the cricketing world had some fresh twists on offer. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president-elect Ranbir Singh Mahendra announced today that the board would arrange for the live telecast of the India-Australia series beginning on 6 October through Sony Television Entertainment India.

    “The board has decided to produce the live telecast of the series itself and distribution will be done by Sony TV,” Mahendra told newsmen in Kolkata.

    Mahendra said based on the recommendations of its marketing committee, the board had decided to produce the live telecast itself. He also said live feeds would be produced by Ten Sports network for BCCI, while “telecast, distribution and marketing” would be done by Sony Entertainment Network on a “revenue sharing basis”.

    The telecast of India-Pakistan Platinum Jubilee match on 13 November and two-test series between India and South Africa in November-December would be done under the same arrangement, Mahendra said.

    He said the live telecast would be subject to any order passed by the Supreme Court, where a matter is pending in this regard.

    An interesting aside to this fresh twist in the tale is that the Supreme Court willing, the two companies that had logged the lowest bids for the India cricket rights (Sony Entertainment at $ 140 million and Ten Sports at $ 115 million) could between them well be managing telecast for the upcoming series.

    JUDGES APPEAR UNCONVINCED OVER GOVERNMENT’S STANCE

    Meanwhile, arguments continued today for the fourth day on whether a Zee Telefilms petition challenging cancellation of a tendering process by the BCCI is maintainable or not and whether the cricket board can be termed a ‘state’. The only thing that was clear though after four days of hearings, is that the battle is getting more bitter by the day.

    The government today came out even more strongly in support of Zee, going so far as to say it is ready to derecognise the BCCI.

    However, even as additional solicitor general Mohan Parasharan submitted before the five-judge constitution bench that the government exercised various controls over the country’s top sports bodies, including BCCI, the court appeared unconvinced. “Most of your arguments fail when you have no material to show that you have ever granted recognition to BCCI as an apex body in the field of cricket,” the Press Trust of India has quoted the Bench as saying.

    Parasharan then said that even though BCCI was not a public authority it was performing a public function and hence its actions were subject to judicial review.

    Speaking for the BCCI, counsel and senior advocate KK Venugopal went so far as to say: “If India plays England, it is a match played by the official team of BCCI and not the official team of India.”

    “We do not even fly the national flag nor use any national emblem in the activities of the board,” PTI quoted Venugopal as saying. Venugopal said India as a country was not represented at the International Cricket Council (ICC) and that the Board uses its own flag.

    DALMIYA AS PATRON-IN-CHIEF: MADRAS HIGH COURT TO HEAR CASE FRIDAY

    It has not been all hunky-dory for Dalmiya however. While he has managed the the installation of his man Mahendra as the next president of the BCCI, one part of the script which was to have seen him take charge tomorrow as the board’s patron-in-chief, and importantly its permanent representative to the ICC, remains on hold.

    The Madras High Court today refused to interfere with a Chennai court order restraining till 11 October the BCCI’s confirming the appointment of Dalmiya as patron-in-chief of the world’s richest cricket board. The case will come up for hearing again in the high court tomorrow. Dalmiya was appointed the first ever patron-in-chief of the BCCI at a special meeting on 12 September and the board was to have ratified it today.

    The “ratification meeting” has now been postponed to 26 October by which time the board is hoping that this legal irritant is out of the way.

    On another “anti-Dalmiya” front, D Agashe of Maharashtra Cricket Association, whose disqualification yesterday led to the defeat of Pawar by a single vote 16-15, has said he is contemplating moving the court. ‘I am taking legal opinion in the matter and if I am advised so then I will move court,’ Agashe was quoted in the media as saying.

  • Centre backs Zee stand on writ against BCCI

    Centre backs Zee stand on writ against BCCI

    MUMBAI / NEW DELHI: Separate legal moves at different courts in the country today are together posing the most serious threat to the untrammeled authority Jagmohan Dalmiya has enjoyed over the affairs of Indian cricket board these past few years.

    Zee Telefilms, embroiled in a cricket telecast rights case in the Supreme Court, today found an ally in the Indian government, which described the Indian cricket board as a ‘state’ under the terms of Article 12. This move, however, has upset the cricket board.

    Arguments continued today in the apex court — and will do so again tomorrow — on whether a Zee petition, challenging cancellation of a tendering process by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is maintainable or not and whether the cricket board can be termed a ‘state’.

    Making his submission before a five-judge constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, additional solicitor general Mohan Parasaran, appearing for the Centre, argued that the board came within the purview of the definition of ‘state’ under Article 12 of the Constitution.

    At the other end of the country, meanwhile, a Chennai court, in an order issued this morning, has restrained till 11 October the BCCI’s confirming the appointment of Dalmiya, who is its outgoing president, as patron-in-chief of the world’s richest cricket board. Dalmiya was appointed the first ever patron-in-chief of the BCCI at a special meeting on 12 September.

    PAWAR TO MOVE COURT FOLLOWING DEFEAT IN BCCI POLLS

    While this was seen as a setback for him, later in the day Dalmiya scored a far bigger victory. Over the Maharashtra political heavyweight and Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar no less. Elections to decide who would succeed Dalmiya as the cricket board president held in Kolkata ended with a 15:15 tie. Dalmiya who had the casting vote in case of such a tie voted in favour of his nominee, Haryana Cricket Association president Ranbir Singh Mahendra. The elections were held after a seven-hour delay.

    Mahendra (or should one say Dalmiya) hardly had time to savour the victory however, when the news came that Pawar would be challenging the way the election was conducted in court. Addressing the media after the elections, Pawar accused Dalmiya of “hijacking” the election process to ensure that Mahendra won.

    Coming back to the action in the Supreme Court, the Union Government sprang a surprise on the BCCI when it supported Zee on the issue of maintainability of its petition in the cricket rights case by stating that the Board was a ‘state’ within the framework of constitutional provisions.

    According to agency reports, the Centre’s changing stance on whether BCCI is an instrument of the state or a private body for organising and managing the game of cricket irked the latter and this was conveyed to the court by its counsel KK Venugopal.

    Venugopal told the court that the government was taking a contradictory stand on the issue. He said while in its affidavit filed before the Delhi high court in a cricket- related case, it had taken the stand that the BCCI was an organ of the state (the time when former cricketer Ajay Jadeja was contesting a ban by BCCI after match-fixing allegations), in an another affidavit filed in the Bombay High Court in the ESPN-Star petition, the Central government had taken the stand that BCCI was a private body.

    Additional solicitor general Mohan Parasaran, appearing for the Centre, told the bench, also including Justices SN Variava, BP Singh, HK Sema and SB Sinha, that the government could not be forced to restrict its arguments to a particular level, news agencies reported. He said the government was free to go beyond the contents of its affidavits filed in the high courts of Delhi and Mumbai.

    The Central government will file a written submission on the matter tomorrow.

    Even as Dalmiya girds for legal battle on three different fronts (Zee’s writ, his elevation as cricket board patron-in-chief and the BCCI poll outcome), one thing is certain. The man who seems to thrive on a good scrap is not likely to give an inch and seems clearly set to wage an all or nothing fight to protect what he seems to view as his personal fiefdom – the richest cricket board on the planet.