The Indian Premier League (IPL) is never short of excitement, it can be said. In the three editions that have gone by, on-field entertainment has been matched by that provided in the grounds and by off-field developments in the recent past. Ever since Lalit Modi, the IPL's driving force, if he can be called that, was considered persona non grata by the BCCI and IPL governing council, a lot has been said and written about the shortest version of the game in India, which went from strength to strength in terms of popularity and fan following.

After the Modi-bashing and his ouster, here comes another thunderbolt.  Rajasthan Royals, which won the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament in 2008, and Kings XI Punjab will not be part of the Twenty20 event from 2011.

At a meeting on Sunday, the reconstituted IPL Governing Council terminated the franchise agreements with Jaipur IPL Cricket Pvt. Ltd. (Rajasthan Royals) and KPH Dream Cricket Pvt. Ltd. (Kings XI Punjab). The Council decided to issue a show cause notice on a group of investors which holds the unincorporated joint venture of the Kochi franchise, asking them to resolve their disputes and give their group a legal entity that will hold the franchise rights.

The investors have been given 10 days to respond to the notice. As expected, Modi reacted angrily to the BCCI move and called the Board's decision 'detrimental to IPL and said the 'IPL fabric damaged without a thought to consequences.'  Some time back, the apex court pulled top BCCI official and CSK honcho N Srinivasan asking him how he could hold two positions at the same time. These are apparently tough times for the IPL. The auctioning for two new franchises some months ago created a lot of ruckus and every one knows what happened subsequently. High-profile Congress Minister and former diplomat Shashi Tharoor lost his Cabinet berth in the aftermath of the storm created over the Kochi franchise allotment and shenanigans. As expected, the Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals have been stunned by the BCCI decision. Rajasthan Royals co-owner Shilpa Shetty wrote on her Twitter account: 'Honestly too shocked to react, just disheartened..cause it's more than just a team 4 us' while the captain Shane Warne, who led them to a memorable triumph in IPL-I was equally bamboozled, so to say.

The management of the Kings XI Punjab on Sunday reacted sharply terming BCCI's decision to terminate the contract of Mohali franchise unfair while co-owner and Bollywood actress Preity Zinta said she was shocked at the development.

The Mohali-based franchise said it was 'surprised and saddened by the BCCI's action.' 'KXIP has been a loyal franchise since the inception of the IPL, at a time when there was no guarantee or visibility of the leagues' success,' it said.

The reactions have been on expected lines and it remains to be seen what happens to IPL-IV with the auction for the cash-rich event looming and several players including the maestro Sachin Tendulkar not too happy about the player retention cause.

With so many controversies and issues clouding the way IPL is run, it remains to be seen if the T20 tournament can retain its popularity and be seen as 'fair.'