Sahara BCCI break ties – pull out of IPL and Team India sponsorship

Just as the IPL auctions were getting ON for season 5 at Bangalore, Sahara India announced a surprise package for everyone !!

Sahara India ended its 11-year-old financial ties with the BCCI and also pulled out of the IPL by withdrawing from Pune Warriors’ ownership just hours before the players auction for the fifth edition.Unfazed by the surprise development, the IPL authorities went ahead with the auction, saying that no written communication had come from Sahara about their pullout.

Sahara Group chief Subroto Roy defended their decision to part ways with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) alleging the governing body of being uptight while applying the rules of the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL). “…after an 11-year journey as sponsors, we can say with surety that cricket has become very rich. Many rich people are there to support cricket with a strong will to do so. So, with absolute peace of mind we can exit from cricket under BCCI and are exiting with a heavy heart,” a Sahara statement reads.“It was an emotional decision for us to start this sponsorship but our emotions were never appreciated and many genuine situations were not given due consideration at all,” the statement reads.

Unfazed by the surprise development, the IPL authorities went ahead with the auction, saying that no written communication had come from Sahara about their pullout.

So now what remains to be seen is will IPL season 5 have Pune Warriors playing or will it now be without the team. More interestingly, the new stadium awaits its first T20 but looking at current things, it looks unlikely that they will get any matches or viewers at the stadium.