In the first interview since the Supreme Court-appointed Justice Lodha committee suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two years from the IPL, governing council member Rajeev Shukla has said that the ninth edition of the tournament next year would go on and that it would still have eight teams featuring in it.
Shukla added that the BCCI, along with implementing the Lodha panel recommendations, was working on constituting a committee which would look into the best interests of IPL after the major verdict. He said that the IPL Governing Council will study the suspension order on CSK, Rajasthan and BCCI would then take a final call.
“In the governing council meeting on Sunday, we will form a committee which will look into the best interest of the players, the IPL,” Shukla said before heading to an emergency meeting with BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya.
In other big judgments during the verdict on Tuesday, former CSK team principal and son-in-law of former BCCI chairman N.Srinivasan, Gurunath Meiyappan wasbanned for life from taking part in any cricket-related activities. Rajasthan Royals’ former co-owner Raj Kundra was also banned for life in this regard.
While pronouncing the judgement, Lodha had said that the purity of the game had been affected by the actions of India Cements and CSK and that the fans had been cheated.
“If cricket is bigger, financial losses to players or franchises is not important. I have acted on behalf of BCCI. The law will take its own course now. No criminal liability has been decided by us. We feel that our decision will uphold the paramountcy of the game. This is an institutional view,” Lodha said in his judgement.