I have no stake in the Kochi franchise - Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar, who is reportedly assisting the Kochi franchise in an advisory capacity, has denied helping the consortium make their successful bid in the IPL team auction in March. He also said that since there was no written agreement over his association with the franchise, "there is no question of [holding] any stake" in it.

"The consortium was the second-highest bidder after the Sahara Group, and so they won the Kochi franchise," Gavaskar told Mid Day. "I had nothing to do with the decision to put the bid amount, so it is a bit of an exaggeration to suggest that I helped them pull off a stunning coup. How could I do so if I was in the dark about how much the bid amount was going to be?"

The Kochi franchise has run into problems over its ownership pattern, which have led the BCCI to issue the consortium a 30-day deadline to explain why it should not be scrapped. There have also been suggestions that Gavaskar was open to joining the franchise as a cricketing expert, but only if it could resolve all its issues.

Gavaskar had earlier turned down his role in the IPL governing council after the BCCI announced that there would be no financial remuneration for the cricketers sitting on the panel. He said he was not pleased with the media conjecture in the days leading to his decision. "What irked me most about the controversy was the totally misleading headlines and information about the composition of the new governing council. I mean, how could I be dumped or dropped if the BCCI contacts me the next day to ask if I am available.

"This jumping to conclusions just for a headline is a sad part of the media today and even sadder is the inability to accept that they got it wrong and offer a correction after that."