IPL IV set to go ahead with ten teams

President Shashank Manohar has been authorised to take a call on whether to approach the apex court.

Board sources revealed that the consensus was to accept the High Court verdict and that the BCCI is unlikely to go on appeal, paving the way for the smooth conduct of the fourth edition.

Consequently, the player auctions for IPL IV will go ahead on January 8 and 9, the dates announced initially before the uncertainty generated by the Kochi imbroglio, and the cancellation of the contracts of Kings XI and Royals had threatened to throw a spanner in the works.

The Board line on desisting from going to the Supreme Court, it is learnt, originates from the fact that their decision to scrap Kings XI and Royals from the IPL was a fall-out of interactions with the Enforcement Directorate and other like watchdog bodies.

With the High Court having found merit in the appeals of the two teams and restored their status as IPL franchises, the Board is unlikely to pursue the matter anymore because, a source said, ‘it was never a clash of egos’.