IPL will overcome ongoing crisis - Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar, the Mumbai Indians captain, has said he is confident the IPL is strong enough to overcome the ongoing crisis, which began with the controversy over the ownership of the Kochi franchise and now involves the league being investigated by the Income Tax department, and Lalit Modi heading for a showdown with the BCCI.

"Life is not a smooth journey always, there are sometimes rough patches in between, and you overcome all those hurdles. I'm sure cricket will help overcome all those hurdles," he told Times Now. "I think when that competitiveness is witnessed by millions, you leave all those things behind.

"People are waiting to see [the IPL matches]. Every evening they are switching on their television to see a competitive match. I personally feel all these obstacles and hurdles will be [overcome]."

The BCCI called for a meeting of the IPL's governing council on April 26 to deal with the problems but Modi objected to it. Modi had, in a letter to BCCI president Shashank Manohar, questioned the validity of Monday's meeting; it has been called by N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary who is also the owner of the IPL's Chennai franchise, and Modi pointed to the conflict of interest in his calling the meeting. Manohar has since rejected that notion.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Indians are waiting to see if Tendulkar, who split his webbing while attempting a catch against Royal Challengers Bangalore, will be fit for the IPL final on April 25. Tendulkar said "the stitches would not come off for the next eight days."