Sunil Gavaskar: Looking for a terrific start to the IPL

Interim president BCCI-IPL Sunil Gavaskar is looking for a terrific start on April 16

Sunil Gavaskar, India’s legendary opener, who is heading IPL-7 after the Supreme Court’s interim order last week interacted freely with the media after visiting the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s headquarters for the first time since his appointment yesterday.

Interim Indian Premier League chief Sunil Gavaskar arrives at the Cricket Centre yesterday. Pic/Suresh KK.

Excerpts:
On his new role...
I was updated about the IPL by other officials. Of course, the priority was to make sure that the UAE leg gets off. We had meetings there with ground authorities. We are hoping that it will be a terrific start to IPL-7.

On leaving out Jaipur...
The BCCI had sent out letters to all associations regarding security and availability in view of the general elections. Having received replies from these associations, we have scheduled matches accordingly. There was little bit of an uncertainty about Jaipur. And not just Jaipur, even Chennai and Mohali had issues. Some regular venues like Dharamshala also missed out. Chennai will get a couple of home matches due to the prevailing situation there.

Besides, the RCA (Rajasthan Cricket Association) matters are sub judice. Rajasthan Royals did indicate that they would be happy to play in Ahmedabad. The current decision does not rule these venues out of the next season’s IPL.
But under current circumstances, with the kind of uncertainty that was there, this decision (not to hold matches in Jaipur) was taken only because of it and nothing else. Therefore, the endeavor has been that the schedule is not disrupted.

On IPL CEO Sundar Raman’s fate in the BCCI...
I am seized of the matter. I am evaluating every information that’s coming to me. So, once all the information is there, I will look into it. I have just been in office for a week.

On interaction with the franchises...
I had interactions with sponsors and the franchisees over the phone since I just came down from Dubai this morning. We exchanged views and information about the first leg of the IPL. Yes, there has been contact.

On compensating the franchisees...
That’s being looked into. It will take some time to calculate the exact compensation. There are a lot of factors like the number of matches they will get and on how many they miss out. I am pretty certain that they will be happy with the compensation.

On improving the credibility of the IPL...
First and foremost we have put a lot of measures in place. The recommendations of the honorable Justice Mudgal Committee report have been accepted. We hope with all the measures in place, we will have a tournament which will be remembered for its cricket and nothing else.

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