"It’s time to go, Mr. Srinivasan"

-





 

The Hindu
25/05/2013


Opinion » Editorial


It’s time to go, Mr. Srinivasan

 


Cricket in India stands on the edge of a precipice and if it is to be saved, the men who have allowed the game to be placed in mortal danger must take responsibility for their acts of omission and commission. What began as a betting and spot-fixing scandal involving three players in one Indian Premier League team now seems to have drawn in team owners, and the man at the very top of cricket administration in India. N. Srinivasan is both the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and owner of Chennai Super Kings and he is in the dock today for the way he has run both enterprises. His son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan, who was also Team Principal of the Chennai Super Kings, has now been arrested by the Mumbai police. He is being investigated for his contacts with an actor who served as a conduit for bookies. The manner in which a blatant falsehood is now being peddled by Mr. Srinivasan’s spokesmen — that Mr. Meiyappan was not CSK’s Team Principal — raises questions about both the nature of the son-in-law’s indulgences and the extent to which the father-in-law was aware of these. Since it is up to the BCCI to investigate and act against those who adversely affect the reputation or standing of the IPL, the board will not be able to execute its role if Mr. Srinivasan remains its president.

 

Indian cricket is paying the price for the original sin Mr. Srinivasan and his supporters committed when he got the BCCI’s rules amended in 2008 to allow his company, India Cements, to bid for an IPL franchise. Today, however, the central issue is no longer this conflict of interest but the spectre of impropriety and wrongdoing. In the present circumstances, where everything from runs given, wickets taken, and catches dropped are thought to be linked to corrupt practices, the continuance of Mr. Srinivasan as BCCI president not only defangs the board’s anti-corruption code but also mocks the very spirit of cricket and belittles the interest that millions of fans take in the game. To be sure, matters will not resolve themselves with his exit. The BCCI is the world’s richest cricket board and will always be seen as fair game by politicians, tycoons and fixers who have an interest only in the power and influence control will bring them. Indian cricket will also have to be saved from them, but first things first. If public confidence in the integrity of the game is undermined, “the very essence of cricket will be shaken to the core,” the BCCI’s anti-corruption code says. This is precisely what has happened during the administration of Mr. Srinivasan. He must resign.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Biography :

-
Image
Personal Life & Legacy : Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel tied the knot at the age of 18, to Jhaverba, who was twelve years of age then. Following the traditional Hindu customs, which allowed the bride to stay with her parents until her husband had a decent income and an established household, the two stayed apart for a few years until Sardar Patel had definite income to fall back on. Along with Jhaverba, he set up a house in Godhra. The couple was blessed with a daughter, Manibehn, in 1904, and a son, Dahyabhai, two years later. In 1909, Jhaverba, who was suffering from cancer, underwent a major surgical operation. Though the operation was successful, Jhaverba’s health continued to decline. She passed away the same year. Patel was against remarrying and instead raised his children with the help of his family. Patel’s health started declining in the summer of 1950. Though he was taken care of intensely, his health worsened. To recuperate, he was flown to Mumbai, where he
Read more

20. BALASUNDARAM :

-
Image
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY: THE STORY OF MY EXPERIMENTS WITH TRUTH by Mohandas K. Gandhi Part-2. 20. BALASUNDARAM : The heart's earnest and pure desire is always fulfilled. In my own experience I have often seen this rule verified. Service of the poor has been my heart's desire, and it has always thrown me amongst the poor and enabled me to identify myself with them. Although the members of the Natal Indian Congress included the Colonial-born Indians and the Clerical class, the unskilled wage- earners, the indentured labourers were still outside its pale. The Congress was not yet theirs. They could not afford to belong to it by paying the subscription and becoming its members. The Congress could win their attachment only by serving them. An opportunity offered itself when neither the Congress nor I was really ready for it. I had put in scarcely three or four months' practice, and the Congress also was still in its infancy, when a Tamil man in tattered clothes,
Read more

Sivananda's Personality - 15.

-
Image
In 1949, opening a cupboard, the Master’s attendant found a bedsheet bitten by a rat, and inside the sheet were four of its newborns. They had hardly opened their eyes. He took them to the Master. When the Master saw the baby rats, his heart was flooded with compassion. He felt greatly pained that they should have been disturbed. He asked the attendant to put them back immediately in the same place and condition, lest their mother should miss them. This was done. But in a day or two, the mother rat got killed by a cat. Soon after, the little ones also died. When the Master saw the dead rats, he felt sad and did Maha Mantra Kirtan for a pretty long time for the peace of the departed souls. His attendant also joined him in the Kirtan. The Master fed ants with sugar, birds with rice, monkeys with gram, fish with bread. He kept water in pots for birds. "This will develop mercy and cosmic love," he said. "It will soften the stony heart
Read more