IPL spot-fixing case: Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals in limbo after Justice Lodha verdict

New Delhi: The cricket control board on Tuesday was left with few options in the wake of the hard-hitting indictment handed down by the Supreme Court-appointed committee that suspended the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals franchises for two years from the Indian Premier League.

IPL spot-fixing case: Meiyappan, Kundra banned for life; CSK, RR owners suspended for 2 years

The three-member committee led by former chief justice of the Supreme Court, R.M. Lodha, also banned CSK official Gurunath Meiyappan and Royals’ co-owner Raj Kundra for life in what is being seen as a long overdue cleanup of the BCCI and its cash-rich T20 league, created in part by the intransigence of former board president Narayanswami Srinivasan, who was formed from his chair earlier by the apex court.

Faced with the reality of an IPL minus the likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Steve Smith and Sanju Samson, the cricket control board went into damage control mode, but given the sheer weight of the Lodha committee and its appointment by the apex court of the land itself, options are sparse.

Read: Chennai Super Kings' officials in quandary over appeal

More than the actions of the face of it, the broader scope of the Lodha Committee’s recommendations and suggestions are bound to be felt by cricket administrators, who for long have chosen to ignore public opinion and a rising tide of discomfort at the corruption and nepotism perceived around not just the IPL, but the BCCI itself.

The Board met here on Tuesday to see what can be salvaged from the situation which as of now sees the IPL as a six-team league. One alternative is to bring back the two teams kicked out over the last two years, the Kochi Tuskers and Pune Warriors.

Read: Will Kochi Tuskers Kerala fill in for CSK, RR?

Another would be to go in for a fresh auction to cover two bases — find the new teams, as well as deal with the bench strength of the two suspended squads, CSK and RR.

A third, already being explored by the Super Kings’ parent company, is to go in appeal against the committee’s decision though team officials did not appear very sanguine about this choice. “We may not take any legal recourse also. Super Kings are only suspended. We can come back after two years. We have not been terminated,” a senior official was quoted as having told PTI.

For starters though, the BCCI has called an meeting of the IPL’s governing council to discuss the future course of action in Mumbai later this week and also an emergent meeting of its working committee.

Meiyappan, CSK’s former team principal and Kundra were suspended for life from any matches conducted by BCCI and for five years from the IPL. A fresh auction is due before IPL 2017 but current situation may lead to it happening two years early.

We will honour verdict: BCCI

Hit with a double-whammy from the Justice R S Lodha committee’s verdict on the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal, Board of Control for Cricket in India president Jagmohan Dalmiya on Tuesday said the Board would “honour and respect judicial decisions” but go through the contents of the panel’s report before reacting to it.

Read: ‘BCCI respects the judicial decision,’ says Jagmohan Dalmiya

In a statement, Dalmiya said, “BCCI is committed to honour and respect judicial decisions and it would give its observations after the entire report is read and a collective decision is taken.” Dalmiya, though, pointed out that the BCCI was “committed to ensuring transparency, accountability and cleansing the sport in order to restore the faith and confidence of millions of cricket-loving people in the game of cricket in general and IPL in particular.”

Board secretary Secretary Anurag Thakur said, “We respect the verdict and will undertake a collective decision in a transparent manner, in the right direction and in the larger interest of the game after the verdict is received and analysed.”