Bye bye time for Srini and CSK. Is Rajasthan Royals next?
The filth and dirt of the Indian Premier League and the mess that has been created by cricket czar N Srinivasan is now turning out to be gripping in the Supreme Court hearings.
If you take a look at the list of legal luminaries who have been hired by various parties, it is clear how high the stakes are. By the end of Thursday evening it became clear that there is no place for Srinivasan and his cronies in running Indian cricket and soon the team he has built - Chennai Super Kings will be jettisoned from the IPL.
For months in a row Srinivasan has been claiming he is clean and that he has done nothing wrong in the eyes of the law. There are a few things which are as clear as water in a pond and Srinivasan needs to see the reflection.
The first thing is his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was more than a cricket enthusiast and was actually a CSK official. As per rule 11.3 (c) which governs the IPL, when an official of the team is involved with bringing disrepute to the game, the team can be thrown out of the competition.
It has taken months for this fact to be brought out by the Supreme Court and now there is no escape route for CSK, Meiyappan or his father-in-law Srinivasan. All along, we knew CSK and Rajasthan Royals did not deserve to be in the IPL as their officials were involved in activities which have tarnished the image of the game.
If Srini’s CSK is going to become history in the IPL, very soon you can expect Raj Kundra’s Rajasthan Royals will also come under the scanner. The next IPL is five months away so fans need to get ready to see two new teams replacing CSK and RR in the world’s richest from of club cricket.
These are tough times for Srinivasan. As the sidelined boss of the BCCI, the court has made it clear he cannot be part of the next election process. Then again, all those indicted by the Justice Mukul Mudgal probe panel will face the same fate as the court wants a clean BCCI in place which in turn can punish the guilty.
Oh, how the high and mighty fall! Running to various temples, consulting high profile astro gurus and bamboozling any form of opposition, Srinivasan has ruled with an iron fist. The endgame is nearing and Srinivasan knows he can do nothing about it.
What happens to the next edition of the IPL is the fans’ concern. I have been a big fan of the huge sixes and fours which light up the IPL venues. What we need is clean cricket and commerce. Let the after parties go on but please ensure the game is clean and results are not fixed.
Each person who shells out big bucks to watch a match in the stadium or is glued to the TV sets at home in summer deserves at least this. Personally, I will not shed a tear if the two teams are thrown out. Sport needs sanity and so does the IPL.