IPL 2014: Mudgal report to decide the fate of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings may get banned!

Retired Supreme Court judge, Justice Mukul Mudgal might spell doom of two IPL franchises, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, as his report on the spot-fixing scandal of 2013 is to come out soon.

The Supreme Court had appointed retired judge, Justice Mukul Mudgal as the head of a committee to investigate the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal. The committee headed by Justice Mudgal will submit its report on 10th February 2014, which will decide the fate of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals in IPL.

The three-member commission was appointed by the Supreme Court on October 11, 2013 to investigate IPL corruption charges against the owners of CSK and RR. If the cases of betting against N Srinivasan and his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan are proved, CSK may face expulsion from IPL.

Already 3 players from Rajasthan Royals have been banned by BCCI, S. Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila.

As per NDTV Sports, the IPL 11.3 (c) clause of the BCCI-IPL rule book exhibits, “a franchise may be terminated immediately if the Franchisee, any Franchisee Group Company and/or any Owner acts in any way which has a material adverse effect upon the reputation or standing of the League, BCCI-IPL, BCCI, the Franchisee, the Team (or any other team in the League) and/or the game of cricket”.

The commission would soon speak to interim BCCI President, Jagmohan Dalmiya and some of the senior board officials regarding the investigation. Also Lalit Modi’s views will also be taken into consideration.

Recently Dalmiya was quoted saying, “I saw in the papers that they (the Mudgal probe panel) will come to Kolkata soon and ask questions. It takes so long? Maybe, they want to talk to me. I don’t know what is going on. I haven’t followed up because I am not involved. The time now is for fact finding. Find the facts and nail the culprits.”

Surprisingly, the committee would submit their reports just two days after the IPL auctions this year, which are scheduled to be held on 8th and 9th February in Bangalore. But BCCI has the authority to challenge the committee’s decision, but things may get worse for the franchises if the judges handling the case decide to take a tougher route.

It will be interesting to see what the committee’s report reveals and its repercussions on the coming IPL. Chennai Super Kings is the most successful team in IPL so far. Their exclusion could be great blow to the IPL fraternity.