BCCI president N. Srinivasan has brazenly refused to step down in the wake of the arrest of his son-in-law, Chennai Super Kings boss Gurunath Meiyappan. He said he would not be “bulldozed or railroaded” by anyone into resigning and that the “law would take its course”. It is typical of the man who must now be made to stand down by board members, many of whom have already made this clear to him.
“I don’t play by the Marquess of Queensbury rules,” he said once when DC’s representatives met him on a cricket matter. His reference to the boxing code alluded to the fact that by the code, “Boxers must not fight simply to win; no holds barred is not the way; you must win by the rules.” As one who battled hard to wrest back control of the company India Cements, Mr Srinivasan is a known fighter. But he never had time for niceties like winning by the rules. No holds barred was his regular strategy.
In cricket’s inner circles, “NS” is sometimes referred to as “Napoleon”, perhaps for his relatively short stature. Like the Corsican nobleman who became Emperor of France and won many a war but went on to fight too many and began losing until he met his Waterloo, “NS” may have stretched his battles too far until he met his Waterloo in the form of his son-in-law, Mr Meiyappan, now accused by the police of aiding bookies and sharing insider information and a host of other charges under the heads of gambling and cheating.
Board members are making their changed positions on “NS” known to him even as hectic parleys went on in Kolkata on the eve of the final of IPL-6, in which his Chennai Super Kings are one of the combatants. While he has accused Mr Sharad Pawar of hatching a conspiracy against him without saying it in so many words, “NS” has been abrasive against a whole set of forces that are now turning inimical to him.
In combative mode even when cornered by the betting and fixing scandal knocking on his door, he lashed out at the media, which he said needed him while he had no need for it. “Some sources are trying to put pressure now... There is no question of it,” Mr Srinivasan said even as he categorically denied the very thought of resigning to own up moral responsibility for the most major hit to the image of the game. Avoiding a Mercedes-Benz that did not have his favourite 9001 number on it and slipping into the back seat of a Toyota Camry, he sped to try to meet his remanded son-in-law in Mumbai before reaching his final battleground in Kolkata.
Like the league’s progenitor, Mr Lalit Modi, who met his Waterloo in an IPL final three years ago, is NS also headed that way in a final? The scenario drips with irony as IPL-6 heads into its final battle even as the head of the honcho may be on the block.
IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla told reporters that “everything is under discussion” but did not elaborate. In Kolkata, both camps were lobbying as Mr Srinivasan arrived. Former BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya hosted a dinner for BCCI functionaries ahead of Sunday’s final. Mr Srinivasan’s cohorts and TNCA officials were calling various state units for support as the faction against him is planning to try and oust him after Sunday’s final.