However, by evening, Sahara India Parivar chairman Subrata Roy indicated the possibility of the BCCI and the business conglomerate finding a middle ground regarding the future of the Pune team.

WILL RECONSIDER

“If the BCCI fails to find a new buyer for the team, then, in the interest of the game and the players, we can consider the option of fielding the current Pune Sahara Warriors side in the fifth season of the IPL,” he said while addressing the media in Mumbai.

But he categorically said that his company would no longer sponsor the Indian cricket team. “We had enough of it. Any relationship does not break on one single issue only. We had a long relationship. It has to do with many issues,” Roy added.

Sahara’s decision seems to have been taken late on Friday as the Pune Warriors’ players had assembled for a camp in Lucknow on Thursday. The move was reportedly triggered by the BCCI’s rejection of Sahara’s request to add their captain Yuvraj Singh’s price ($1.4 mn) to their auction kitty of $1.6 mn after it came to light that the India all-rounder would be unavailable for the fifth season because he is undergoing treatment for a lung tumour.

It is also learnt that Sahara was unhappy that Royal Challengers Bangalore were allowed to retain their replacement player from last season — Chris Gayle — for $550,000, down from $650,000. “Gayle’s value (he was the top scorer in 2011 with 608 runs) has shot up tremendously after his performance last year but RCB got him so cheap. This doesn’t make business sense at all,” a top Sahara official told The Sunday Express.

The statement announcing the withdrawal, signed by Sushanto Roy, Managing Director, Sahara Adventure Sports Limited, said that “the Indian cricket board should pass on our team to some other interested party immediately”.

Though the bidding process for IPL team-naming rights and players’ auction has been mired in disputes in the past, this is the first time that Team India will be affected with the withdrawal of the sponsorship that is worth Rs 3.34 crore per international match. Sahara has been sponsor of the Indian cricket team for the past 11 years.

Sahara’s other demands have also been rejected by the BCCI. The Pune team owners wanted what they termed as an “additional bid amount” (they paid $370 mn for franchise rights) refunded as only 74 matches were played in season four instead of 94 games which were scheduled.

Sahara, a fresh entrant last season, also wanted an open auction to be held last year when the contracts of all players expired but the BCCI allowed existing teams to retain top players of their choice.

IPL Commissioner Rajiv Shukla said: “It is unfortunate. But we haven’t received anything in writing from them officially.”

SAHARA’S UNSAID GROUSES

The Pune team owners were unhappy that Royal Challengers Bangalore were allowed to retain their replacement player from last season — West Indian opener Chris Gayle — for $550,000, down from $650,000. Top Sahara officials believe that RCB got a good deal as Gayle, the top scorer in 2011 with 608 runs, is worth a lot more.

They are also upset that Mumbai Indians were allowed to field five foreign players in the last edition of the Champions League when eight of their Indian players were injured. Sahara India believes that this one-off decision was taken in an arbitrary manner. However, they were not given a similar concession when it came to a replacement for their skipper Yuvraj Singh, who is being treated for a lung