Sahara chairman Subrata Roy had recently slammed BCCI president N Srinivasan for being "biased" and accused him of shielding his IPL team Chennai Super Kings. Roy's tirade had led to a belief that Sahara's decade-long association with Indian cricket was coming to an end.
It is learnt that Roy changed his mind after some Indian cricketers approached him in Mumbai and requested him to continue with the team's sponsorship. Sources said some senior cricket officials and former cricketers also called up Roy. "I personally called Mr. Roy and asked him to continue Sahara's association with the Indian team. I appealed to him in the interest of the cricket community," former Indian captain Kapil Dev told TOI.
A former president of the board, who didn't wish to be quoted said, "It's up to Srinivasan and his current administration to look into why some of the sponsors are threatening to run away from Indian cricket."
When TOI spoke to some of the BCCI officials, almost all of them said it was up to Sahara to continue with the sponsorship. "We are clear from the first day that there is nothing against any corporate house. If Sahara wants to continue, we expect them to take part in the bid," a top BCCI official said.
Sources said seven companies - Star, Sony, UB Group, WSG, Gaames Unlimited, Sahara and Airtel -have bought the tender documents.
In the ongoing contract, Sahara is paying around Rs 3.34 crore for every international match. Their contract ends on December 31 this year. The base price for every match is Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 60 lakh for ICC and Asian Cricket Council events. The bids will be opened in Chennai on Monday.
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