Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals to submit cheques today

Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals will submit their cheques in the Bombay high court on Monday.

The two franchises of the Indian Premier League (IPL), terminated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for breach of agreements, have said that they are ready to play the game. “We’re ready with our cheques (bank guarantee). It will be submitted in the court on Monday afternoon,” said a KXIP official.

The Mohali team, which successfully challenged the termination order, was asked to guarantee of $20.7 million and the team official said everything is ready. “We’re now planning for the auction,” he told this paper.

Almost similar was the response of a Rajasthan Royals, who, too, have got a second life from the court. “We’ll complete the formalities by tomorrow (Monday) evening,” CEO Sean Morris said. “We’re ready,” he added.

Meanwhile, the BCCI has called for an emergency meeting of the IPL governing council. It will be held in Mumbai on January 5. The agenda for the meeting is not known but sources in the BCCI say the members will check if the two franchises have complied with the HC’s directions. “The meeting is to check if all the requirements have been met by the teams,” a top BCCI official said.

After the meeting, the IPL will formally announce the number of teams taking part in the player auction, on January 8 and 9. “We have no reason to believe that the two teams would default. But a formal announcement on the number of teams will be made after the meeting,” he said.

The meeting also will announce the format and dates for IPL 4. Originally, the tournament was scheduled to start on April 8.

However, that plan was for an eight-team event. The championship might still start on April 8 but there could be slight alterations with regard to length of the league. The number of matches, as was decided earlier, will be 74.