Jaipur may miss out on IPL matches yet again

Rajasthan Cricket Association may have to wait a bit longer for reaffiliation with the BCCI after a confusion over the date of hearing at the Rajasthan High Court. There have been reports that the delay could lead to Jaipur miss out on the IPL action yet again in the upcoming edition. Rajasthan Royals last turned out in the IPL two years ago. During the last hearing on the dispute between RCA and the BCCI, Justice Manish Bhandari had said he would take up the case after the  Special General Meeting, on December 11.

Post the SGM meeting, RCA president CP Joshi had requested the board to allot Royals’ home games at Sawai Mansingh Stadium. The BCCI is yet to respond to the plea. The BCCI is likely to wait for all the conditions to be met before it involves Rajasthan in the scheme of things.

“The judge wanted to know when the BCCI SGM was scheduled,” an RCA official told TOI. “When we informed him that it was on December 11, he had deferred the hearing to December 12.” However, owing to some miscommunication, the date was put as January 12 on the official register. Justice Bhandari went off on a month-long vacation on December 13, and there wasn’t enough time to reschedule the hearing before his departure.

Royals on the wrong side

The Royals also felt the heat of the new player retention policy and the right to match card rules as they can only pick four of their 10 strong players from the 2015 squad, available now.

“MI can take the entire credit for players like Hardik and Jasprit prospering at the national level so they have all the reasons to retain these home-grown cricketers. Therefore, it’s a bit hard on Rajasthan Royals when they can’t do anything about getting back Sanju Samson. They’ve been among the franchises who’ve always worked on the principle of picking young talents and nurturing them,” say those associated with the IPL.