Gavaskar appointed as temporary BCCI President
NEW DELHI, MARCH 28 (AP): India's Supreme Court ordered the country's cricket boss Narayanaswami Srinivasan to step aside Friday until the completion of an investigation into corruption in the domestic Indian Premier League.
The court appointed test great Sunil Gavaskar as temporary president of the Board of Control of Cricket in India during the duration of the IPL Twenty20 competition, scheduled to begin on April 16. He will work with another former test cricketer, Shivlal Yadav, a senior vice president of the BCCI.
Srinivasan, one of the leading powerbrokers in international cricket, is yet to comment on Friday's decision. He earlier this week rejected the court's urging that he voluntarily step aside from the BCCI role.
Indian police last year arrested several players, including test paceman Shantakumaran Sreesanth, for allegedly spot fixing — or conceding a specified number of runs in exchange for money from bookmakers.
The court did not penalize any teams or players as part of the judgment.
"This judgment is for cricket lovers. We do not want to suspend any team or player before the IPL," Justice Patnaik said.
C. Aryama Sundaram, the lawyer representing the BCCI, welcomed the court's order. "We are very glad that the order that has been passed today is in keeping with the proposal which the BCCI itself had given" to the top court, Sundaram told reporters. "The BCCI will not oppose Sunil Gavaskar's interim appointment."
Sundaram also welcomed the court's decision to allow the IPL to go ahead as scheduled, saying any order that led to its disruption would "heavily impact the success of the IPL and would affect millions of cricket-loving public."
"I am very glad to say that the court has not, in any manner, interfered with the IPL. It has not passed any order which interferes with any team participating in the IPL," Sundaram said.
The court will reconvene on April 16 to continue its investigation into the IPL. Srinivasan's position on the BCCI has been considered untenable since a three-member committee, headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal, found Chennai Super Kings team principal Gurunath Meiyappan guilty of being in contact with illegal bookmakers in its report forwarded to the Supreme Court.
Meiyappan, Srinivasan's son-in-law was indicted last month on charges of betting and passing on information to illegal bookmakers. Meiyappan spent two weeks in jail last year before being granted bail.
Srinivasan said that Meiyappan was "just a cricket enthusiast" even though he was seen regularly at players' auctions and in the team dugout. The finding came after the Bombay High Court last year referred to the two-member BCCI panel that initially cleared Meiyappan of his charges as "illegal and unconstitutional."
Justice A. K. Patnaik said the court was not expressing any opinion on the merits of the allegations against Srinivasan until the court completes its case on the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal. Shivlal Yadav, a former India offspinner who played under Gavaskar's captaincy, told reporters he would abide by the court's order. "The Supreme Court has given an order. I will fulfil it," he said. Srinivasan was named as chairman-elect of the International Cricket Council, the cricket's world governing body, in February.
I will give it my best shot, says Sunil Gavaskar
NEW DELHI, March 28 (PTI): Handed over the reins of BCCI for IPL-7 by the Supreme Court on Friday, interim president and former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar said he will "give it his best shot" while discharging duties during the cash-rich T20 league. "I am deeply humbled and honoured that the Honourable Supreme Court of India has entrusted me with the job of being the Interim President of the BCCI till the end of IPL 7. Like with my cricket, I will give it my best shot," Gavaskar said in a statement.
The apex court today gave charge to Gavaskar for functions concerning the IPL and did not bar the N Srinivasan-promoted Chennai Super kings and Rajasthan Royals from participating in the seventh edition of the tournament. Taking the cricket board out of incumbent Srinivasan's hands, the Court directed that the senior most vice president of the Board, Shivlal Yadav, will be looking after the affairs of BCCI. A bench of justices AK Patnaik and FM Ibrahim Kalifulla, which had yesterday proposed barring CSK and RR in the tournament, however, refused to pass order in this regard allowing them to play the matches along with six other teams in the tournament beginning April 16 in Dubai. The bench also said that Gavaskar will have to get out of the contract with BCCI for commentary in order to discharge the duty assigned by the court. It also directed BCCI to adequately compensate the veteran cricketer.
