After the conclusion of the 12th edition of the IPL, we almost ran into a controversy during the presentation ceremony after CoA member Diana Edulji conveyed her wish of giving away the winners trophy which is totally against the conventional rule.
However Dian Edulji wasn’t able to hand over the winner’s trophy and it was eventually handed over to Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma by acting president of BCCI, CK Khanna. The Committee of Administrators chief Vinod Rai didn’t witness the final of the IPL between CSL and MI. Meanwhile two other members Diana and Lt Gen (retd) Ravi Thodge was present during the full match.
“Edulji gave away the winners’ trophy at the Women’s T20 Challenge in Jaipur and she wanted to give away the trophy here also. However, it was learnt that Khanna showed an e-mail from acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhry to IPL COO Hemang Amin, stating that convention of the president giving away the trophy could be followed,” a BCCI official who is aware of the incident was quoted as saying by the PTI o the condition of anonymity.
When Vinod Rai was asked about the same, he stated that there was no need to change the convention which has been the same for 12 years.
“It was Lt Gen Thodge, who categorically told the former India women’s team captain that acting president Khanna should be allowed to hand over the trophy and the matter should be put to an end. She was certainly not happy but had to go with the majority view in this case,” said another BCCI source.
Meanwhile, it must be noted that Vinod Rai and Diana Edulji had their fair share of differences of opinion surrounding most of the issues. The CoA has been able to take a few stern decisions of late after Lt Gen Thodge came into the panel.