Dalmiya bouncer could force Prasun to lock horns with Shah Rukh

Ending weeks of speculation over whether Eden Gardens can at all host the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) Kolkata leg matches, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) top brass finally heaved a sigh of relief after today’s IPL-related special meeting, formally announcing that Eden will be the hosts.

But the Mukherjee-led administration was dealt a couple of major blows, with their rival bigwig and nemesis Dalmiya pounding the CAB’s ruling faction with uneasy questions and demands.

When the dust settled after a chaotic evening at the CAB office, it was clear that the Dalmiya-led opposition not only scored major brownie points over the distribution of the IPL booty, but went as far as forcing Mukherjee & Co to lock horns with Shah Rukh over ticket distribution.

The Bollywood superstar’s company Red Chillies Entertainment owns the rights to the Kolkata team, with Eden slated to host seven of the Kolkata team’s 14 matches during the 44-day IPL Twenty20 carnival starting April 18.

At the special meeting attended by 109 representatives, the Dalmiya group tabled two key suggestions, submitted in the form of a stinging memorandum signed by a whopping number of dissidents. According to the first demand, the CAB administration should set aside 70 percent of the Rs 7-crore booty (which the CAB is getting from Red Chillies for sub-leasing Eden for the seven matches) for the 121 affiliated units of the CAB. The units comprise 94 clubs, 18 districts, eight universities and the Office Sports Federation. The demand says, the amount set aside should then be put into a fixed deposit account, and the interest arising out of it annually should be distributed among the 121 affiliated units every year.

It’s the second demand, however, that’s more tricky for Mukherjee & Co. Instead of granting the CAB just 20 percent of the 86,000 tickets for every IPL match, Red Chillies should distribute the larger share of the ticket-pie with the CAB, demands the Dalmiya camp.

Sources in the CAB revealed that Red Chillies is intent on sticking to its policy of holding back 80 percent of the tickets for itself and selling them out to the public. And if the Dalmiya lobby persist with its own demand of a larger share of free tickets, then Mukherjee will be bound to get into a confrontation with Shah Rukh over this issue.

Says Dalmiya: “The CAB has no reason to keep for itself the lion’s share of the money, neither should the organisers keep for themselves a huge share of the tickets. We want the CAB to sort this matter out with the organisers (read: franchisee Red Chillies).”

Facing a fresh round of hurdles, coming from Dalmiya himself for the first time, the CAB president naturally appeared on the back-foot. “Mr Dalmiya had a lot of things to say at the meeting, and we discussed a lot of things. I will get back to the BCCI about these issues, and we will also discuss the matter with the organisers. But one thing is sure, the IPL is going nowhere out of Kolkata, we will host the matches,” Mukherjee said.