Mumbai: A little over 24 hours have passed since Sahara India withdrew its sponsorship from Indian cricket, but in a fresh turn of events, Subrata Roy, chairman of Sahara India Parivar, has said the company will not be rigid about its decision to sever ties with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)."We are not rigid," Roy said when asked whether Sahara would be willing to reconsider its decision. He said he wanted to make sure the Pune Warriors players would play in the fifth season of the IPL despite Sahara pulling out as owners. "I am really worried about one thing: that my players should get to play. Money I'll take care of, I am not worried about money."
Roy did not specify, however, how he saw the Pune Warriors players participating in IPL 5. Sahara has asked the BCCI to search for a potential new owner for the team. Asked if Sahara would retain ownership if the players were not transferred and the team was not sold to someone else, Roy said: "It does not depend on me alone. It also depends on the BCCI. We are there to support them (the players). We are there to adjust many things."
"We were hopeful till this morning," Roy said. "I talked to the BCCI president last night and my son (Sushanto) had meetings with some of the BCCI officials in Bangalore last night that went on till as late as 10pm in the night. So we were expecting that they would probably consider our very, very genuine request just before the auction," Roy said.
