CUTTACK 02-May-2012 140
Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) today announced the cancellation of the second edition of Odisha Premier League (OPL) after delaying the start of the cash-rich domestic Twenty20 tournament for a month. ``We deeply regret that the OPL-2 will not be held this year as the franchisees of OPL-1 did not deposit their promised amount by 30th April, 2012,`` OCA secretary Asirbad Behera said in a statement.
He attributed to the harassment the franchisees had gone through from various quarters as the reason for non-submission of the renewal amount.
The first edition of the IPL, featuring 10 teams, 171 players and 44 matches was conducted at five venues from May 22 to June 12 last year. Western Samurai Rourkela emerged champions, defeating favourites Katak Barabati Tigers in the final by four runs at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack.
The inaugural edition, which did a business of over Rs 4.17 crores, generated a profit around Rs 1.20 crores. Bhubaneswar Jaguars were the costliest team in the fray with franchise owner LG Infrastructure Private Limited buying it at a cost of Rs 55 lakhs.
But the lavish spending, the glamour and the media hype created a lot of suspicion about the sources of investment. Income Tax Department and Crime Branch also initiated probe in the matter. Though OCA announced to conduct the OPL-2 in a bigger scale, involving 12 teams and six venues from April 1 to 22, the scared franchise owners preferred to stay away.
