'All stakeholders on same page' - Thakur

The five-member working group formed by the BCCI to propose remedial action for ensuring smooth conduct of the IPL has met all the stakeholders of the league. BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, who is one of the five members, is confident the group will submit its report ahead of schedule.

"We have completed our meeting with stakeholders and have taken into account their suggestions," Thakur told reporters in New Delhi on Monday. "I must tell you that all stakeholders are on the same page regarding what needs to be done. The deadline is August 29 but we are planning to submit our report before that."

Over the last week, the group had discussed the fallout of the Lodha panel's verdict to suspend the owners of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two years. The group had invited representatives of all the major sponsors of the IPL, the tournament broadcasters, all the IPL franchises apart from the two suspended teams, and the IPL chief operating officer Sundar Raman for one-on-one discussions. On Monday, the working group met with representatives of PepsiCo India, the title sponsors of the IPL.

It is understood that all the stakeholders stressed on the need to have an eight-team IPL. The working group, which includes Thakur, IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla, BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry, IPL governing council member Sourav Ganguly and the BCCI's legal consultant Usha Nath Banerjee, will now have to chalk out a pathway that ensures eight teams for the next two editions.

"Now that we have met all stakeholders, the members of working group will meet again to discuss and prepare the report," Thakur said.

Despite Thakur's optimism, the decision over the fate of the IPL is likely to be taken only during the BCCI annual general meeting in September. Before that, the working group will have to table its recommendations to the IPL governing council, which in turn will need to forward its proposals to the BCCI working committee. With the working committee likely to be convened towards the end of the month, it is all but likely that the governing council recommendations will directly be tabled before next month's AGM. The date of the AGM is yet to be finalised.