BCCI-Sahara row: Top 5 new developments

The BCCI-Sahara standoff remained unresolved with the Indian Cricket Board's Working Committee rejecting some demands of the long-time sponsor, refusing to make "exceptions" for the company which will now have to decide its future in the Indian Premier League (IPL). For IPL fans the big questions are: Will Sahara enter the team in season 5? And if it does, who will replace Yuvraj Singh?

Here's the BCCI-Sahara row in five points:

The BCCI's decision: The Indian Cricket Board has said it can allow the Sahara franchise to replace marquee player Yuvraj Singh with another buy but has rejected the proposal for a reduced bank guarantee saying it is not in it's rulebook. After over three hours of deliberation at its Working Committee meeting, the BCCI said it has communicated its decisions with regards to Sahara's demands to the company and was hoping for a "favourable response".

What Board Chief says: Cricket Board chief N Srinivasan said Sahara had issues with the quantum of bank guarantee, but the BCCI could not make exceptions in the rules for one team. Speaking about the sponsorship of the Indian team, Mr Srinivasan said that they have "adequate sponsors" and the BCCI is not losing any money

What  Sahara says: Sahara  has accused BCCI of flouting an agreement by which the Board had committed to a joint statement on February 13 or 14. Instead, according to Sahara, the Board broke the news on Sunday. According to a release from Sahara, Subroto Roy had asked BCCI to take the matter sportingly. "He (Subroto Roy) requested the BCCI President & his team that there is no point in quoting the rule book and debating it word by word. After all, they were BCCI's own rules and not some constitutional rules of the Govt of India."

The issue: Sahara was upset that the BCCI did not allow the franchisee to add Yuvraj Singh's salary of USD 1.8 million into the fresh bidding process that took place on February 4. This after they had already spent USD 400,000 on retaining Sourav Ganguly. It had joined the IPL bandwagon only last year by buying the Pune Warriors for Rs. 1702 crore, making it the costliest franchise in the Twenty20 event.

Sahara's pullout: Last week, Sahara told the BCCI that it was ending its 11-year cricketing association with the board. This meant that it was withdrawing sponsorship of the Indian cricket team and was pulling the Pune Warriors out of the IPL. The decision to sever all ties with BCCI was taken just hours before the IPL auction got underway in Bangalore. Sahara  had said that if issues related to IPL are solved, then 'we could also discuss the sponsorship of the Indian cricket Team.'