File picture of a match in the first edition of the OPL

Bhubaneswar, April 29: The fifth edition of the Indian Premier League is on in full swing, but uncertainty has gripped its Odisha clone, which was set rolling with much fanfare last year.

The second edition of the Odisha Premier League (OPL) was scheduled to commence from mid-April. But, lack of enthusiasm on part of the franchise owners has forced the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA), the organiser of the event, to postpone the submission date of franchise renewal fee to May 30.

Three of the 10 franchisees, which took part in the inaugural season of OPL last year, have already pulled out alleging harassment by the income tax and vigilance departments.

Vigilance sleuths came up with evidence of illegal money having been invested in the OPL and said the money trail led to three to four mine owners against whom cases of illegal mining were pending.

Now, the participation of the remaining franchisees also remains in doubt. “We have already burnt our fingers in the experiment. I have decided not to submit the franchise renewal fee and subsequently, withdraw from the event,” said a team owner, on condition of anonymity.

“OPL was organised just after India won the World Cup and we all were excited about the initiative. However, the excitement fizzled out in no time, thanks to the substandard arrangements for the teams by the OCA. If anyone benefited from the tournament, it was the association. We got nothing but negative publicity,” he said, adding that the raids had sent out a wrong signal to prospective sponsors and the people in general.

“The sponsors will think twice about associating with the teams and tournament this year,” he said.

Another franchise holder said that in addition to Berhampur Bhanja Veers, Puri Emperors and Kashvi Power Rangers (Keonjhar), which had already pulled out of the league, other teams were also on the radar of the vigilance department.

“Teams such as Katak Barabati Tiger, JSP Sparks (Jagatsinghpur) and Cooperative Kings Dhenkanal owned by controversial persons are under vigilance scanner. Therefore, their participation is uncertain. Besides, they cannot get sponsorship, because when a sponsor cannot be sure whether the team they are backing will remain in the league, they are going to be jittery about committing their money and resources,” he said.

The other issue that remains unresolved is the distribution of profit from OPL-I among franchise owners. Sources said proceeds from the last tournament were to the tune of Rs 1.19 crore, of which 50 per cent was supposed to be set apart for charity and the rest to be equally distributed among the franchise owners.

However, office-bearers of the cricket association have been trying to hide behind the excuse of the process being too lengthy to make it happen any time soon.

On the other hand, the association, which had not found any takers for its proposal to invite new franchisees, is still hopeful of new teams entering the OPL fray.

Sources said a gangster too was interested to buy a team. Quizzed about this, the OCA officials feigned ignorance, saying it was not possible to verify the antecedents of a potential franchise owner. “With such restrictions, we will never be able to organise the event,” said the official.

Last December, OCA had sold four forms to invite bids from various parties to own a team but none came forward. “However, we hope things to change but in the worst case scenario, we are prepared to organise the event even with four teams,” said OCA secretary, Ashirbad Behera.

However, highly-placed officials in the OCA said the OPL might not be held at all this year. “Apart from the franchisees’ lack of interest, there are several other problems in hosting the league this time. After the IPL match between Pune Warriors India and Deccan Chargers on May 1, we will be busy organising the Santosh Trophy matches at Barabati Stadium from May 11 to 27. Then the monsoons will set in and that will make it difficult to conduct the OPL matches,” said an official.

A Ranji player said though they had been playing domestic cricket for a long time, OPL provided them a great platform to prove their mettle. “Many players caught the attention of IPL team owners and Biplab Samantray, who played for Katak Barabati Tigers, has been signed by Deccan Chargers,” he said.

Odisha all-rounder Paresh Patel, who captained the Bhubaneswar Jaguars side in OPL-I, said: “I feel the OPL should not be discontinued as it gave budding cricketers great exposure.”