Bangalore (IANS) The dramatic pullout of Sahara India from the fifth edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) as franchisee of Pune Warriors and as the main sponsor of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) overshadowed the players’ auction here Saturday.

In contrast to the excitement and suspense that gripped the second auction also held in this tech hub a year ago, Saturday’s ‘mini-auction’ began on a sour note as the number of franchises reduced to eight from 10 with the cancellation of Kochi Tuskers Kerala over default and walkout by Sahara India hours before international-acclaimed auctioneer Richard Madley wielded the hammer.

As Sahara officials walked out of the auction venue, a damning statement against BCCI from the franchises after the auction got underway at a five-star hotel triggered more questions about the development as it cited several reasons, including denial of natural justice by the world’s richest cricketing body.

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Lucknow/New Delhi (ANI) The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement on Saturday that it would be talking to long time Indian cricket team sponsor Sahara India to reconsider its decision to end its financial ties with it and its decision to pull out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) by withdrawing its ownership of the Pune Warriors” hours before the players” auction.

Sahara, which has been the team sponsor for 11 years, signed a renewed agreement with the BCCI on July 1, 2010 till December 31, 2013. Sahara was paying Rs. 3.34 crore per Test match, one-day international and Twenty20 International under the new terms.

“… after an 11-year journey as sponsors, we can say with surety that cricket has become very rich. Many rich people are there to support cricket with a strong will to do so. So, with absolute peace of mind we can exit from cricket under BCCI and are exiting with a heavy heart,” Sahara India said in a statement.

“It was an emotional decision for us to start this sponsorship, but our emotions were never appreciated, and many genuine situations were not given due consideration at all,” the statement read.

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Melbourne (PTI) Twenty20 cricket is like a runaway train, which would crush everything including Test and One-day cricket, if not controlled properly, warned former Australian cricketer Dean Jones.

Jones said the kind of money which private T20 leagues are offering are too good to resist and the ICC must pay well players, who represent country in Test and ODI format.
He cited example of Australia’s domestic tournament Sheffield Shield, where players’ income has decreased after Big Bash league.

Jones argued that if representing the nation was not rewarding enough financially, the players would automatically be more drawn towards lucrative private leagues.

“T20 cricket cannot be stopped. It is a runaway train prepared to kill everything in its way. I am not joking when I say this. If we don’t handle T20 cricket properly, it will crush everything in its way, including the Test and one-day formats,” Jones wrote in his column for Sydney Morning Herald.

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