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[pzd]

25% of Kochi team is given free to Rendezvous sports for life," Modi first tweeted, then added: "Kochi shareholders are:  Rendezvous 25% free, Rendezvous 1%, Anchor 27%, Parinee 26%, Film Waves Combine 12%,  Anand Shyam 8%, Vivek Venugopal 1%. And Rendezvous free equity - held by  Kisan, Shailender and Pushpa Gaikwad, Sunanda Pushkar, <supposedly the muse of Shashi Tharoor>Puja Gulathi, Jayant  Kotalwar, Vishnu Prasad, Sundip Agarwal."

  These names were revealed after the agreement papers were signed late on Saturday. Earlier on Saturday  night, Modi had said that the authentication of two Rendezvous shareholders was not  clear yet, though the agreement had been signed.

  The Kochi owners had met BCCI officials in Mumbai on Friday as they looked to dispel fears that  their agreement with the IPL would collapse. Modi also said, "There are  certain shareholders in the Rendezvous Company who have not been able to answer  the question over stakes yet. The agreement has been signed, but we will  seek clarification. It's just a matter of time."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/iplarticleshow/5785756.cms

Previously Tharoor has denied any association with Kochi franchisee.. why lie?

[teamindia]

Looks like Modi wanted Ahmedabad as new IPL franchisee and somehow Kochi made it against his wishes.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/iplarticleshow/5798943.cms

NEW DELHI: Minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor may be questioned by his party on his claims that he had only "helped" the Kochi crowd in the light of Pushkar owning 19% of the 25% free equity held by Rendezvous in the Kochi consortium, amounting to about 5% of the overall equity.

In a strong attack on IPL commissioner Lalit Modi's alleged pressure tactics, Tharoor's aide said Modi had virtually said during this meeting he would ensure that the franchise became "unworkable".

Tharoor's OSD Jacob Joseph was quoted by a TV channel as saying that Modi threatened the Kochi representatives - he allegedly said, "I am going to make sure you guys get the worst name (for the team), worst jerseys, and that you will not get access to the great players."

Tharoor himself said the Bangalore meeting was necessitated because Modi had held up approval to the franchisee "by insisting on the reversal of a change in the document that he himself had earlier suggested." The minister added: "The consortium members flew to Bangalore for what they had been told would be a routine exercise. Instead, they were submitted to a barrage of questions which led some to suspect that Modi was seeking a further excuse to delay approval. This was the reason for my intervention with Modi."

On the Bangalore meeting, the Tharoor aide said: "The meeting took place close to midnight after Modi made us wait through the afternoon and evening."
Sources said that Sunanda Pushkar, who has been seen in Tharoor's company at social occasions, has business interests in Dubai where she is connected with a real estate company. It is understood that Tharoor and Pushkar were introduced by a Dubai-based businessman, Sunny Verki.

Tharoor said he knew Pushkar well. "On the question of my interests in the franchise, I repeat that I am proud to have helped the consortium come to Kerala. I have neither invested nor received a rupee for my mentorship of the team. Whatever my personal relationships with any of the consortium members, I do not intend to benefit in any way financially from my association with the team now or at a later stage," he said.

The minister's aide said Modi's alleged bias was apparent from the word go, as a day before the actual bidding, he asked the consortium to quote a price of $297 million for the bid. "He had no business to suggest this. We did not go by that because we knew that the eventual price would be much higher. In hindsight, we know that he was trying to scuttle our chances," said the aide. The team eventually won the rights for Kochi franchisee for $333 million.

According to a TV channel, Tharoor's OSD Jacob Joseph said that Modi was unfit to run cricket as he had been charged and convicted of drug possession in the US and demanded that the ownership of Rajasthan Royals - the IPL chief is allegedly close to the team - be revealed.

Joseph told the TV channel that "Why isn't he talking about two other teams which are registered in Mauritius? Why is he insisting only on the ownership of Kochi franchisee? He has brought disrepute to IPL and cricket."

[teamindia]

If it is Modi, it must be Ahmedabad

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100414/jsp/nation/story_12337773.jsp

Mumbai, April 13: Shashi Tharoor has accused Lalit Modi of pressuring the IPL Kochi consortium members to abandon their bid in favour of “another city in a different state” but desisted from naming the place.

If Modi’s preference of late offers any clue, that “another city” has to be Ahmedabad.

Sources in the Indian cricket board said IPL commissioner Modi’s sudden rush to tweet details of the Kochi consortium was in part aimed at helping Ahmedabad get a team for itself.

Modi, the sources said, is equally keen to find a new home for Rajasthan Royals, and Ahmedabad is the best bet in case it can't have its own team. At least one of Modi’s relatives has a significant stake in the Jaipur franchise.

The IPL chief has been scouting around for a safe haven ever since his political fortunes dipped after the BJP lost power to the Congress in the desert state.

Tharoor is not alone in tasting the bitter tweets of Modi. The Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA), which he once headed, also has had the same treatment.

“My team and RR (Rajasthan Royals) officials harassed by state officials. Is this the way to hold matches in a state. That is why I have boycotted Jaipur matches,” Modi tweeted on Sunday, the same day the entries against Tharoor were made.

Sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said Modi’s rant against the RCA was aimed at getting the Royals a home in BJP-ruled Gujarat, whose chief minister Narendra Modi — also the state association president — is keen to have an IPL franchise.

“Whenever there has been a crisis with RR — be it the Jaipur blasts or Modi’s loss in the RCA elections some months ago, he (Modi) has threatened to take the team to another city. He has named Ahmedabad quite often as an alternative,” alleged a senior BCCI member.

Another option was to facilitate a franchise for Ahmedabad and build a team from scratch. “Modi’s sudden keenness to expose Tharoor is driven by his attempt to prop Ahmedabad as an IPL franchise by disqualifying Kochi,” the BCCI member claimed.

Ahmedabad was home to the Royals for four games this year. Sources said Modi had hinted that Jaipur, which has three matches this year, may not get to host any IPL game next season.

“It’s a joke what rca can do. 60 political party workers were accredited to do ticket checking. Total break down of administration. Future?” he wrote on Twitter.

Ahmedabad was widely tipped to get an IPL team at the team auction on March 21, but lost out to the stunning bids for Pune and Kochi.

The Sahara group picked up Pune while Kochi was bagged by a consortium made up of several behind-the-scenes business tycoons, whose best known spokesperson was Tharoor. The junior external affairs minister described himself as a “mentor” of the consortium but was sucked into a controversy with Modi disclosing on Sunday that Tharoor’s friend Sunanda Pushkar had been given free equity by the Kochi franchise.

Cricket sources said by taking on Tharoor, the IPL boss had unwittingly raked up uncomfortable questions regarding his own connections.

“Lalit Modi lives in a glass house. He should not throw stones at others. He will be very uncomfortable if questions are raised about ownership in the Rajasthan Royals team as well as in Kings XI Punjab. Considerable stakes are held in both by Modi’s relatives,” said a top RCA source.

Nigeria-based NRI businessman Suresh Chellaram, who owns 44.1 per cent stake in the Jaipur franchise, is Modi’s brother-in-law. Gaurav Burman, one of the co-owners of Kings XI Punjab, is Modi’s stepson-in-law.

Gaurav, who lives in the UK, is a scion of the Dabur group and is married to Modi’s stepdaughter. His elder brother is Mohit Burman, another co-owner of the Punjab team.

“The IPL’s exclusive licensee for digital, mobile and image rights is Global Cricket Ventures Limited (in which Gaurav Burman’s Elephant Capital is an investor). Modi has unwittingly prised open his own can of worms,” said the RCA source.

[teamindia]

Manohar is livid at Modi
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100414/jsp/sports/story_12337433.jsp

Calcutta: Shashank Manohar, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, is understood to be livid at Lalit Modi, the Indian Premier League (IPL)’s chairman and commissioner.

According to well-placed sources of The Telegraph, Manohar has made it amply clear that Modi had no business tweeting on matters official and confidential.

“Manohar has, in his typically straightforward manner, told Modi that anything to do with the shareholding pattern of a franchise should only be discussed by the IPL’s governing council and not on Twitter or some other public forum,” one of the well-placed sources pointed out on Tuesday.

That, it seems, was conveyed on Monday, after the Team Kochi-Sunanda Pushkar-Shashi Tharoor affair got out of hand and left some of the eight existing franchises and possibly Sahara (which successfully bid for Pune, 2011 onwards) “somewhat alarmed.”

Like Pune, the Kochi franchise will take the field from IPL IV.

“Manohar’s stand is that the IPL (which is a BCCI initiative) need not be bothered about the shareholding pattern as long as the bank guarantees are furnished and other mandatory requirements met... If Modi has reservations, he has to discuss within the governing council, not anywhere else,” another well-placed source said.

With Manohar stepping in, the governing council will meet “within 10 days.”

One learns that Modi, whose appointment is for five years, starting 2007/08, will “definitely be censured” and “unambiguously” asked not to run a parallel organisation.

“The IPL, essentially, is a sub-committee of the BCCI... Modi and his men must not lose sight of that... He’s gone very far and, now, it’s time for him to step back or be pushed back,” emphasised yet another well-placed source.

Besides Manohar and Modi, the 14-member governing council includes former captains Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri.

Privately, within the BCCI, quite a few accuse Modi of running the IPL like his fiefdom and, worse, of trying to undermine the supremacy of the parent body. The tweets have come in handy for the Modi-baiters.

That Modi has not been able to regain control of the Rajasthan Cricket Association, but continues to be a BCCI vice-president (from Central), remains a sore point.

Nothing to do with the IPL, yes, but certain things are inter-linked.

In keeping with his style, Manohar believes that the Sachin Tendulkars and Mahendra Singh Dhonis should be the face of Indian cricket, not administrators, whether it be Modi or somebody else.

Not that it has really been a factor, but Manohar and Modi are not seen as buddies (not since they helped Sharad Pawar oust Jagmohan Dalmiya in November 2005), but Modi’s bigger problem has been with BCCI secretary N. Srinivasan, who is all set to succeed Manohar, in 2011.

Srinivasan runs a franchise, too — the Chennai Super Kings. Many find that odd, but the bottomline is that the BCCI does not feel uncomfortable.

That is also odd, but the ‘negatives’ do not end there.

Indeed, what is hardly comforting is the meddling, even in IPL matters, by politicians. Tharoor has admitted having been a “mentor” to the consortium which bagged Kochi, but the buzz is that two other Union ministers, too, were quite active when the new franchises were auctioned.

Modi, in many ways, is actually quite savvy. There is, therefore, surprise in some quarters that he tweeted indiscreetly. Was he pushed into doing so by somebody with plenty of influence?

The answer, perhaps, may never be known.