Former BCCI president N. Srinivasan is finally back in the spotlight. Srinivasan was forced to step down as the president, after his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was involved in a betting scandal in last year’s edition of the Indian Premier League. The betting scandal also led to Chennai Super Kings suspension from the IPL.
Owned by India Cements, the team from Chennai was arguably the most successful franchise in the Indian Premier League as of 2015 and it was N. Srinivasan who acted as the Managing Director (MD) of CSK. CSK were later converted into a wholly-owned subsidiary as Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd in a bid to save the team. However, the supreme court slapped a two-year suspension on CSK following the betting scandal.
Former ICC President and chief of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, Srinivasan said that Chennai Super Kings will come back to the Indian Premier League without any external intervention’.
“At the moment we don’t have an IPL team in Chennai. But one season has already gone. Just one more to go. CSK will be back automatically,” said Srinivasan as he announced the eight franchisee owners of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), a franchisee-based T20 tournament.
Srinivasan also admitted that the cricket scenario is a “little lull” in the state after the suspension of CSK.
“It’s a little lull. We all feel the absence of cricket because the Chennai team is not there. But time will fly, don’t worry. Chennai is a permanent Test centre and the city is synonymous with cricket. The TNPL is important for the state in a lot of aspects. We are in talks with the BCCI to allow other state cricketers to compete in our league. Hopefully, they will agree,” added Srinivasan.
When quized whether he thinks that the reputation of Tamil Nadu cricket has taken a beating following the whole betting scandal, Srinivasan replied, “I don’t think there is any damage to it. All of you (present here), touch your hearts and say, what and why it happened?”
The former board president also backed current president Anurag Thakur to to lead BCCI from the very front.
“I think Anurag Thakur is very experienced. He is capable. I have already sent him a message wishing him best,” Srinivasan added.