SUN shines for Deccan Chargers
26 Oct 2012 6:47 AM IST
Chennai-based SUN TV Network acquired the Indian Premier League (IPL) Hyderabad franchise on Thursday for a whopping Rs 85.05 crore per year. The franchise has reportedly been acquired for the next five seasons, which makes the total winning bid Rs 425 crore. The announcement makes SUN TV the ninth IPL franchisee.
The SUN TV Network is a mass communications firm based in Chennai and headed by media baron Kalanidhi Maran.
The news raised a few eye brows as Kalanidhi’s brother Dayanidhi had to resign as union minister after his name cropped up in 2G spectrum allocation scam.
After the news of the purchase deal broke, former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi tweeted that the deal was done at the behest of BCCI president N Srinivasann, who is a Chennai-based industrialist. Srinivasan owns IPL franchisee Chennai Super Kings.
The Hyderabad franchise, earlier owned by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd. (DCHL), was made defunct by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after the owners failed to produce a Rs 100-crore bank guarantee before the Bombay High Court, a condition that had been set for the struggling team’s survival in the league.
The Deccan Chargers franchise’s failure to furnish the guarantee money led BCCI to float a fresh tender for a new franchisee.
The IPL governing council met here on Thursday to open the bids for the new franchise, where the SUN TV Network’s bid was substantially higher than the second bid of PVP Ventures, which was Rs. 69.03 crore, according to a press statement released by BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale.
All the players who were contracted with the Deccan Chargers, whose IPL contract has been terminated by the cricket board, will be available for picking by the new owners, said Srinivasan.
‘All players are available to the new franchise. I think they have signed agreements and the new franchise will have time till October 31st to decide who they want to retain, but all the Deccan Chargers players are now with Sun Group,’ Srinivasan told reporters.
‘The franchise now has a choice to retain whoever they want and decide by October 31st. As far as the player their interest is completely protected and they have also been paid for the last year,’ the board chief said.
The SUN TV Network is a mass communications firm based in Chennai and headed by media baron Kalanidhi Maran.
The news raised a few eye brows as Kalanidhi’s brother Dayanidhi had to resign as union minister after his name cropped up in 2G spectrum allocation scam.
After the news of the purchase deal broke, former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi tweeted that the deal was done at the behest of BCCI president N Srinivasann, who is a Chennai-based industrialist. Srinivasan owns IPL franchisee Chennai Super Kings.
The Hyderabad franchise, earlier owned by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd. (DCHL), was made defunct by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after the owners failed to produce a Rs 100-crore bank guarantee before the Bombay High Court, a condition that had been set for the struggling team’s survival in the league.
The Deccan Chargers franchise’s failure to furnish the guarantee money led BCCI to float a fresh tender for a new franchisee.
The IPL governing council met here on Thursday to open the bids for the new franchise, where the SUN TV Network’s bid was substantially higher than the second bid of PVP Ventures, which was Rs. 69.03 crore, according to a press statement released by BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale.
All the players who were contracted with the Deccan Chargers, whose IPL contract has been terminated by the cricket board, will be available for picking by the new owners, said Srinivasan.
‘All players are available to the new franchise. I think they have signed agreements and the new franchise will have time till October 31st to decide who they want to retain, but all the Deccan Chargers players are now with Sun Group,’ Srinivasan told reporters.
‘The franchise now has a choice to retain whoever they want and decide by October 31st. As far as the player their interest is completely protected and they have also been paid for the last year,’ the board chief said.
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