BCCI inducts Sourav Ganguly in working group to study the Lodha Panel verdict

BCCI inducts Sourav Ganguly in working group to study the Lodha Panel verdict: Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly was named in the BCCI’s four-member working group formed to study the Justice R.M. Lodha committee’s order and give recommendations within six weeks. The Governing Council (GC) of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at an emergency meeting here on Sunday decided to abide by the Lodha Committee verdict and will constitute a panel to study the order suspending two franchises and banning two team officials.

The Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee on July 14 suspended Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) for two years from the IPL in the spot fixing and betting scandal that rocked the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament in 2013.

The committee will be chaired by IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla and will have BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur and treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhary as the other members. BCCI’s legal adviser U N Banerjee will assist the panel.

Anurag Thakur via a press released on Monday stated that: “In accordance with the decision of the IPL Governing Council to implement the Lodha committee report, the following members will constitute the Working group, which will prepare the road map for the forthcoming edition of the IPL and related matters,”

“The members recognised that there is an urgent need to understand the impact of this decision and the wider ramifications for BCCI in detail, so as to uphold the paramountcy of the game in our country,” he further added.

“The committee will share their recommendations with the Governing Council within a time frame of 6 weeks after consulting all the key stakeholders,” the release further read.

Announcing the names of the panel members, Shukla said the panel will study the implications of the Justice Lodha Committee report and draw up a roadmap for IPL 9, which will have a minimum of eight teams. Shukla was quoted by PTI saying, “The committee will have six weeks’ time to study the Lodha committee report and will give its recommendations after talking to all the stakeholders,”

“The committee will also consult the legal experts before coming up with recommendations since we do not want any legal complications later on,” Shukla said.

The IPL Chairman clarified that the BCCI will implement the Lodha Committee verdict in toto and the panel’s job is only to find the way forward so that preparations for IPL 9 can begin. “I can say that everybody has the opinion that the show must go on, the value of league should be enhanced. So IPL 9 is going to be better that the previous edition,” Shukla said.

“We still have some time for IPL 9, so we should not take any hasty decision. We will follow the procedure and come to a consensus on all the matters relating to IPL,” Shukla added.
The decision to form the group was taken at this crucial IPL Governing Council meeting in Mumbai where members discussed the Lodha Committee’s order, suspending Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two years in the IPL. Shukla said that Ganguly, who is also a member of the IPL Governing Council, has been included in the group as a representative of players.