Abu Dhabi: N. Srinivasan, the former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, who was forced to step aside from the post in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal in the Indian Premier League (IPL), is not only back but proving a point — showing that he is still the boss in his backyard.
Biding his time after being sidelined for the past one year, the former International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman has resurfaced with the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) and is creating the right buzz in the Indian cricketing circuit.
Srinivasan, who had been the in charge of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) since 2002-03, immediately after being re-elected unopposed in June, announced the launch of the TNPL and has garnered support from all quarters.
His own company India Cements is backing the event, comprising eight teams, and Star India is on board as media rights partner. TNCA received a total franchise fee of 333.4 million (around Dh18.4 million), which shows that there is money and appetite for more cricket leagues in India.
A total of 22 bids were collected, out of which 17 had taken part in the bidding process for the eight franchise leagues. The minimum bid price was set at 12.5 million per franchise.
The amount generated is significant considering that there is very little star value associated with the league with only the likes of a few Chennai-based stars like Ravichandran Ashwin, Murali Vijay and Dinesh Karthik in the fray. The presence of former star players as coaches — South African Lance Klusener, Australian Michael Bevan and Brett Lee — has also added more credibility to the tournament.
There are other domestic leagues in other states on the same lines but Srinivasan has clearly forced everyone to sit back and take notice.
Even the Mumbai Cricket Association was planning to hold a league this season but that was shelved after the BCCI proposed that they were planning an overseas IPL but that proposal didn’t take off.
With Chennai Super Kings (CSK) suspended from the IPL, there was already a dejected fan base waiting for something like this to show their support. Srinivasan judged that to perfection and the fans didn’t disappoint.
India’s ODI skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who had been the CSK skipper all along till the team was disbanded, showed his loyalty as he accepted the invitation to unveil the trophy.
There have been also signs of the TNCA now emerging as more a ‘team player.’ During the launch, the TNCA secretary Kashi Viswanathan thanked the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) President Sourav Ganguly, Niranjan Shah from Saurashtra Cricket Association, and Amitabh Choudhary from Jharkhand Cricket Association for their congratulatory messages.
Another sign of the ice being broken between the BCCI and Srinivasan came to light with the board approaching the latter for advice on its legal battle in light of the justice R.M .Lodha commmitee recommendations.
BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke reportedly flew down to Chennai on Sunday to discuss the matter with the former strongman before preparing to file a plea, challenging the Lodha Committee’s recommendation. It is clear that the TNPL is ensuring that, whatever the nature of its love-hate relationships, Srinivasan remains someone who can’t be written off.
