Pressure mounting to oust Srinivasan as BCCI chief

BCCI president N. Srinivasan arrived here amid speculation that the members of the Board are divided over his continuation as the head of the organisation.

With pressure mounting on him to quit the most prized post in Indian sports administration on moral grounds, a defiant Mr. Srinivasan rejected demands for his resignation after his son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan, was arrested by the Mumbai crime branch for his alleged involvement in betting.

Many Board members are in the city on the eve of the Pepsi IPL-VI final between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. They were invited to attend a dinner party thrown by the Cricket Association of Bengal president Jagmohan Dalmiya.

Earlier on Saturday, IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla met the veteran administrator at his residence to discuss ways of dealing with the controversies surrounding the game. He later clarified that there were no doubts over holding the final. Speaking to reporters, Mr. Shukla said “everything is under discussion” and did not elaborate further.

Meanwhile, the former Board president, I.S. Bindra, who is one of Mr. Srinivasan’s strongest critics, demanded his resignation to save the game in the country. There were also reports that the Board president’s supporters and TNCA officials were contacting various State units to gather support and defeat the plans of rivals, who might be planning to initiate the process to oust him after the IPL final. To remove Mr. Srinivasan the rival camp would need a three-fourths majority while he requires just eight votes out of 31 to hang on to the post.

Despite the pressure on him to step down, Mr. Srinivasan was a picture of calmness at the party at a city hotel. Dressed in a T-shirt and trousers, he, accompanied by Mr. Dalmiya, Arun Jaitley and Mr. Shukla, went around the tables to greet every member present at the party. TNCA secretary K.S. Viswanathan is also here.