BCCI chief appoints commission to probe son-in-law's role

May 26, 2013
srinivasan_copyKolkata, May 26: Digging in his heels further, beleaguered BCCI President N Srinivasan yet again rejected demands for his resignation and announced the setting up of a three-member commission to go into allegations against his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, who has been arrested on charges of betting in IPL matches.

Seeking to ride the storm threatening his continuance as chief of BCCI, he asserted that he has done nothing wrong, there was no revolt against him in BCCI and made it clear that he cannot be "railroaded, pushed and threatened to quit".

Promising firm and strict action if allegations are proven against his son-in-law who was Chennai Super Kings team principal, Srinivasan told a press conference that the BCCI is very concerned by the allegations that have been made concerning the IPL whether it is betting or spot-fixing.

Citing IPL operational rules that provide for various sanctions ranging from fine to suspensions and termination of the franchise, he referred to media reports on clause 11.3 of the franchise agreement and whether Gurunath, an owner of the franchise, was in violation.

"It is for the Commission to look into this. The BCCI is very concerned over the allegation whether those relate to betting or spot-fixing. As I have said on a number of occasions, the BCCI will act firmly and strictly if the allegations are proven.

"The principles of natural justice are every person has a right to hearing and to be considered innocent until proven guilty," he said in his opening statement at the press conference.

Earlier in the day, the BCCI suspended Gurunath from all activities of cricket including in CSK. Srinivasan also met BCCI officials, including IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla and Vice President Arun Jaitley before addressing the press conference. Claiming to set aside his personal feelings as father and father-in-law in "these difficult days", Srinivasan gave an assurance that he would not shirk from his duties.

"However difficult it may be, the BCCI will act without fear or favour to investigate and if the circumstances warrant, punish any player and match officials, team management or franchise that have breached BCCI or IPL regulations," he said.

However, Srinivasan stonewalled questions on Meiyappan's role, saying he had distanced himself from him and that the inquiry commission would go into everything on the issue.

"I am not part of this commission and I will not play any role in its appointment, deliberations or decisions," he said.

The three-member enquiry commission will consist of two members of the IPL Operations Commitee and a person entirely independent of BCCI in whose appointment he will have no role. The five members of the committee are Arun Jaitley, Rajeev Shukla, Sanjay Jagdale, Ajay Shirke and Ravi Shastri.

"Two of them along with an independent commissioner will go into charges against Meiyappan and we will abide by their report. There will be an independent person and I will await the report as much as you. I will not shirk from my duty," he said in reply to a volley of questions on what action was being proposed against Gurunath.

The disciplinary procedure under the operational rules shall be initiated and the commission will abjudicate whether Gurunath is in breach of rules that require all persons not to act in any way that would have an adverse affect on the image and the reputation of BCCI or the IPL which otherwise bring the entity into disrepute, Srinivasan said.

He said the same procedure would be applied in the case of management of Rajasthan Royals. Referring to media campaign againt him, Srinivasan said some of these reports are over-stepped certain bounds and asked the media to be weary of trial by them.

"Persons who have been suspended by the BCCI, known defaulters, fugitives from Indian justice systems and other vested interests keen to discredit me and the BCCI have indulged in a smear campaign in the last few days. The unfair attack has been directionless", he said.

Referring to reports that there would be a revolt against him in the BCCI, he said this was completely untrue and there was unity in the Board.

"I have not been asked by anybody to resign. To the contrary, my support is complete and I refuse to yield to unfair and motivated attacks. I intend to continue my duties as President of the BCCI," he said.

The BCCI will take whatever steps necessary to justify the faith that the public have in the IPL and in Indian cricket. Srinivasan said there was no allegation against CSK as a team.

As for Gurunath, he said he did not have any role in the running of the team. He was enthusiastic and has been travelling with the team.

"What is his role, whether he transcended any rules. The Commission will deal with it. The enquiry commission will go into it. I have nothing to say, I am not going to sit and explore what his role was or was not.

"All these questions will be gone into. I have distanced myself. I will not be part of the committee or its discussions," Srinivasan said.

Answering questions on how the CSK was run, he said the India Cements which owns CSK ran 10 or 12 teams in Chennai cricket league and has been supporting cricket by employing cricketers of these teams on its staff for over 50 years. The CFO of India Cements handle the finances of the CSK and another top official of the company handled its marketing and other operations.

To a pointed question, he said "first and foremost, I am not an accused. I have done nothing wrong. What is his (Gurunath's) role...He did not have any role in the management. Let the Commission go into it. It will give the report to the Board as a whole. I will play no role. Everything will be done swiftly."

Srinivasan said the BCCI's Anti-Corruption Unit report on the allegation of spot-fixing by the Rajasthan Royals players S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan, Ajit Chandila and Amit Singh will be submitted on time. "The BCCI will continue to offer assistance to the police and if the inquries bring any suspicion on any other players" he said.

"With regard to Gurunath, the legal process has already started and he's facing police investigation. The BCCI has already taken the decision to provisionally suspend him from all activities in cricket and particularly from all involvement within CSK franchise.

"The management of the other franchise, the Rajasthan Royals will also be subject to same inquiry procedure. I am not part of this commission and I will not play any role in its appointment, deliberations or decision," he said.

Srinivasan said the IPL was very important and it gave an opportunity for young Indian players to play with senior Indian and overseas players in front of capacity crowd. It helped bring a new audience to the game.

This season over 21 lakh people bought tickets to watch matches. The IPL continues to contribute to the funds for the development of cricket in India", Srinivsan said.

"I do not want to minimise the problems facing the IPL. Indians have been very proud that our country has produced a league that is the envy of the world. The BCCI will take whatever steps necessary to justify the faith that the public have in the IPL and in Indian cricket," he said.

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News Network
July 19,2020

Dubai, Jul 19: On hold for the past two months, the fate of this year's T20 World Cup will be up for a decisive round of deliberation when the ICC board meets virtually on Monday with the BCCI hoping for a postponement to ensure that the IPL can go ahead.

The global event is supposed to be held from October 18 to November 15 in Australia but the country's cricket board had, in May itself, expressed its inability to host amid a second surge of Covid-19 cases in the state of Victoria.

With India's case load also exceeding the 10 lakh mark, including more than 26,000 deaths, the IPL, if it is held, is likely to move to the UAE once the central government gives its go ahead.

"The first step was postponement of Asia Cup, which has happened. We can only start to move ahead with our plans after the ICC announces the postponement. They have been sitting on the decision even after Cricket Australia said that they are not too keen on hosting the event," a BCCI Apex Council member told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

This year's T20 World Cup will likely be held in Australia in 2022 as India doesn't want to swap its 2021 hosting rights with Cricket Australia as of now.

That Australia won't be hosting the mega event was clear after the cricket board told its players to prepare for a white-ball series against England scheduled for late September.

CA has even announced a 26-strong preliminary squad for that tour.

The ICC, on its part, has maintained that it wants to explore all possible "contingency" options before taking a call of such immense magnitude. And it is not unusual for the governing body to wait this long.

"Pakistan was supposed to host the Champions Trophy in 2009. After the terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus, everyone in their proper senses knew that PCB will never host a big event in distant future," said a source familiar with the functioning of the ICC.

"Yet, ICC deputed its employees in Pakistan for months when South Africa was already preparing to host the event. Everyone knew but a formal announcement of shift took months as threat assessment was part of protocol.

"The ICC couldn't have just postponed 9the T20 World Cup) immediately as initially, the top ministers of the Australian government expressed keenness to host," he added.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has also resigned itself to this outcome after vehemently opposing the Indian board.

The postponement of Asia Cup, which was supposed to be hosted by the PCB, to 2021 was a big blow to Ehsan Mani and his team.

"We have had a lot of discussions and the feeling is it (T20 World Cup) would not be possible this year. ICC has World Cups lined up in 2021 and 2023 so we have a gap year where we can adjust this event," Mani had recently said while talking to reporters in his country.

It has been learnt that PCB is contacting other boards in the hope of finalising some bilateral engagements as the national team has nothing lined up after its England tour.

Nomination process for Chairman's election:

The other issue that is likely to come up for discussion in Monday's meeting is the nomination process for the next independent chairman of the ICC after Shashank Manohar's resignation earlier this month.

It is learnt that there is no consensus on what should be the criteria in case multiple candidates join the fray.

"The board is not united on whether the usual 2/3rd majority to decide will be used (as its in case of policy decision) or the case of simple majority among the 17 board members," an ICC Board member said.

England and Wales Cricket Board's Colin Graves was considered the top contender with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly's name also being floated.

Ganguly's candidature will certainly depend on whether the Supreme Court waives off the cooling off period and allows him to continue as BCCI president beyond July 27 when he completes six years as an office-bearer in the Indian Board's state and national units.

When asked about the possibility of taking up the ICC job in a recent interview, the 48-year-old said he is young and and in no hurry for the position.

New Zealand's Gregor Barclay, Hong Kong's Imran Khawaja, who is currently the interim chairman, are also being talked about as potential candidates.

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News Network
February 11,2020

Dubai, Feb 11: Two Indian players-- Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi -- and three Bangladeshis have been charged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for involvement in the quarrel just after the U-19 cricket World Cup summit clash in Potchefstroom, South Africa on Sunday.

Akash and Bishnoi and three Bangladeshi players -- Md. Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan -- were found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct after a few players from both sides nearly came to blows after Bangladesh beat India by three wickets to win their maiden U-19 World Cup title.

"Five players have been found guilty of a Level 3 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Support Personnel ... (they) were charged with violating Article 2.21 of the code, whilst Bishnoi received a further charge of breaching Article 2.5," the ICC said in a statement.

"All five players have accepted the sanctions proposed by ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup Match Referee Graeme Labrooy," it added.

A near brawl broke out after Bangladesh’s historic win over India in the final. The Bangladesh players were aggressive during the Indian innings with lead pacer Shoriful Islam frequently sledging the Indian batsmen.

As soon as the match ended, Bangladeshi players rushed into the playing area.

"India's Akash accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of eight suspension points, which equates to six demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years," the ICC said.

Compatriot Bishnoi accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of five suspension points, which equates to five demerit points.

"Bishnoi also accepted a level 1 charge of breaching Article 2.5 for a separate incident during the match, where he used language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter following the dismissal of Avishek Das in the 23rd over," said the ICC.

"For this he received a further two demerit points meaning seven demerit points will remain on his record for the next two years."

Bangladesh's Towhid Hridoy accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of ten suspension points, which equates to six demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years.

Shamim Hossain accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of eight suspension points, which equates to six demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years.

Rakibul Hasan accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of four suspension points, which equates to five demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years.

All charges were levelled by on-field umpires Sam Nogajski and Adrian Holdstock, third umpire Ravindra Wimalasiri as well as fourth umpire Patrick Bongni Jele. Level 3 breaches carry a minimum penalty of four suspension points and a maximum penalty of 12 suspension points.

The suspension points will be applied to the forthcoming international matches the players are most likely to participate in at either senior or U-19 level. One suspension point equals a player being ineligible for one ODI or T20I, U-19 or A team international match.

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News Network
July 24,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 24: Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who was earlier banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching the Anti-Corruption Code, on Friday, said that people are bound to make mistakes and the important thing is that how well they make a comeback.

Shakib was banned from all forms of cricket on October 29 last year after he accepted the charges of breaching the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code. He will be able to resume international cricket from October 29, 2020.

"You have to be honest. You just can't lie to the people and pretend different things. Whatever happened has happened. People are bound to make mistakes. You are not 100%. The important thing is how well you can comeback from those mistakes. You can tell other people not to make those mistakes. Tell them the path so that they never take those paths," Shakib told Deep Dasgupta in a videocast hosted by ESPNcricinfo.

The 33-year-old all-rounder said he has seen many controversies ever since he was first made captain in 2009. He had trouble with the board chief, selectors and the media, mainly about selectorial decisions and not being made permanent captain between 2009 and 2010.
He believes those experiences have changed him as a person over time.

"I think [it's] combination of both [controversy following him, and vice versa]. I got the responsibility so early in my career, I was bound to make mistakes. I was captain when I was 21. I made a lot of mistakes, and there are so many things that people think about me. Now I realise that it was my fault in some areas, and in some I was misunderstood. But I get it completely. It is part and parcel in the subcontinent," Hasan said.

"Of course I will try to minimise [my mistakes] as much as I can, but by the time I got married, and now I have two kids, I understand the game and life better. It has made me a calmer person than I was in my twenties. I have changed quite a lot. People won't see me doing a lot of mistakes now. My two daughters changed my life completely," he added.

Shakib is likely return to international cricket during Bangladesh's proposed Test series against Sri Lanka in October. 

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