New Delhi: In yet another major blow to controversial cricket board president N. Srinivasan, the Supreme Court on Thursday proposed that former India captain Sunil Gavaskar or an experienced cricketer like him could take over as interim president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
The court also proposed that two teams, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals should not be part of the IPL’s seventh season that is due to begin on April 16 in the UAE as they face charges in the spot-fixing and betting scandal.
A bench headed by Justice A.K. Patnaik also proposed that no one associated with Mr Srinivasan’s company, India Cements, should play any role in running the BCCI’s affairs. Mr Srinivasan is managing director of India Cements, which also owns the Chennai Super Kings. Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a vice-president of the company.
The court asked the BCCI to respond to its proposals on Friday, when it will pass an order on the spot-fixing and betting scam. BCCI lawyers are busy preparing their arguments for the court hearing on the IPL fixing-betting scandal at 10.30 am on Friday. They are also expected to propose Anil Kumble, secretary of Karnataka Cricket Association for a few years, as interim president of the BCCI.
The court had said Tuesday that N. Srinivasan should step down as BCCI president to ensure a fair inquiry into the IPL betting and match-fixing scandal, and gave the Board two days to respond. The two-judge bench comprising Justice F.M. Ibrahim Kalifulla, criticised what it termed as Mr Srinivasan’s “nauseating” refusal to resign while allegations involving his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, an official of the CSK, were being investigated.
