The owners of Delhi Daredevils (DD) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) met the newly-formed Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Working Group headed by Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Rajeev Shukla on Thursday.
DD owner Kiran Gandhi stressed that the cash-rich league should have eight teams in the next season and if that does not happen, then it will hurt the commercial viability of the popular league.
RCB owner Vijay Mallya also joined the meeting through video conference from London. GMR Sports top official Sunil Valson, Gandhi and Mallya stressed on the revenue aspect, which is associated with the eight-team format.
"Since the owners' opinions were sought, DD representatives said that they want an eight-team format as less than that would affect the revenues of all franchises. Six teams are not a solution as revenues would take a hit. They said how BCCI manages eight or 10 teams is their call, but economics of the decision should be kept in mind. Actually, the opinion of all owners will be sought as to whether you need to float tenders for new teams or adopt teams," an official who was involved in the discussion told PTI in New Delhi.
Like the last meeting, there were no discussions about Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings. The Working Group is still studying the Lodha Committee report and is yet to deliver a decision for the two franchises that have been suspended for two years from the pompous IPL.
IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla and treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhary attended the meeting on behalf of the other two members. Secretary Anurag Thakur and Sourav Ganguly couldn't attend the meeting because of other commitments.
The next Working Group meeting will be held at the Taj Lands End Hotel in Mumbai on Saturday, which will be attended by Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab owners.
