Indian board approve sponsorship bids

The Indian board's marketing committee approved sponsorship bids concerning India's formal wear and accessories, BCCI Ratings and Awards, and the board's web portal, but rejected the bid on ground rights for the tri-series to be played in Singapore and Malaysia in September.

All approved bids will be forwarded to the Working Committee for its ratification. "We had only one bidder for the ground rights - Percept," Lalit Modi, the chairman of the marketing committee, was quoted as saying in The Hindu. "But, it was rejected on the grounds that it was too low." Modi said fresh tenders would be issued, and finalised on Friday in Delhi.

The committee approved Accenture's bid for the board portal. Other issues that were discussed in the meeting were the schedule of the tri-series involving India, Australia and West Indies in Singapore and Malaysia, ticketing for matches in India, and Microsoft's proposal for software to monitor umpires and non-televised matches.

Niranjan Shah, the board secretary, said the working committee meeting on Wednesday was to discuss the agenda for the Annual General Body meeting to be held on September 28.