BCCI wins legal battle against defunct IPL franchise Deccan Chargers

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has finally won the legal battle against Deccan Chronicle Holdings (DCHL), owners of the now-defunct Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Deccan Chargers. The Hyderabad-based team, which won the second edition of IPL, was terminated after the 2012 season after the owners failed to submit the bank guarantee to the cricket board.

The bank guarantee to be paid to the board was Rs. 100 crore. However, DCHL challenged the termination and initiated an arbitration process in the Bombay High Court, which could have cost BCCI a staggering amount of INR 4,800 crore. Nevertheless, the Indian cricket board has won the long-pending legal battle, and the officials are delighted with the development.

BCCI wins the case against Deccan Chargers’ owners DCHL

“We are extremely happy with the development. It has vindicated our position as we had always followed what was in the agreement,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying by Zee5.

In July 2020, BCCI was ordered to shell out Rs 4800 crore to DCHL after the firm claimed damages of INR 6046 crore plus interest and charges as per reports. While reacting to the development back in July 2020, a BCCI official had made it clear that an appeal was on the cards as the board strongly believed it had a potent case.

Meanwhile, Deccan Chargers featured in five IPL seasons – from 2008 to 2012. They had a couple of impressive campaigns and under Adam Gilchrist’s leadership, the side even clinched the title in the 2009 edition. Many prominent players like Andrew Symonds, Rohit Sharma, Pragyan Ojha and RP Singh plied their trade for the chargers. However, they didn’t feature in the tournament after 2012 and another franchise from Hyderabad, Sunrisers Hyderabad, came in the picture.

Owned by the Sun Group, SRH have enjoyed a great time in IPL and even clinched the prestigious title in 2016. In fact, they are the only side to have qualified for the playoffs in the last five IPL seasons. However, their campaign in the 2021 edition of the marquee event hasn’t been that fruitful, as they lost seven of their first eight games before the season got postponed.