Rajasthan Royals plead for a second chance

New Delhi:

Exactly a week after the BCCI terminated two IPL teams, one of the expelled teams the Rajasthan Royals have written to the BCCI president Shashank Manohar requesting the board to consider their case.

The letter, written by the Royals Chairman Manoj Badale, implores the BCCI not to take any action without allowing the franchise to tell its side of the story.

"I am quite shocked and very disappointed at this turn of events. I have always believed that matters of commercial agreements between two parties can always be resolved across the table and not fought through the media and the courts... We were assured of a fair and unbalanced hearing, and there was no mention of a termination. We have been suddenly, without notice, been severed from the IPL," Badale says in the letter.

However not all bits of the letter have such an apologetic tone.

Badale writes: Where was the "change of control" that BCCI did not know about? The extensive mail correspondence in early 2009 and later clearly shows BCCI's awareness of our shareholdings and transfers. Why was no issue raised then?

The royals insist they made a very public announcenement when they sold 11.5 per cent stake in the franchise to  Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty last year. The BCCI for its part is insiting the paperwork is not in order.

Though at this stage it seems like the BCCI is being vindictive and sending out a message that anybody close to Lalit Modi is persona non grata for them.