Sreesanth is history, so are his histrionics

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president-in-exile N Srinivasan’s presence cast a shadow at the sisciplinary committee meeting, convened on Friday, to deliver the much-awaited verdict on the IPL spot-fixing scandal.

Ironically, Srinivasan, who had to “step aside” after his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested for his alleged involvement in betting on IPL matches, chaired the meeting of the panel that imposed life bans on tainted cricketers S Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan for their role in the scandal that broke during IPL 6.

But, first things first.

World Cup winner Sreesanth and Mumbai left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan were handed a life ban by the three-member committee comprising Srinivasan, Arun Jaitley and Niranjan Shah. Both players were part of Rajasthan Royals during the 2013 season.

Amit Singh, the former Royals player-turned-bookie who was instrumental in introducing these players to the betting syndicates, got away with five-year ban. Royals and Gujarat seamer Siddharth Trivedi has been suspended for a year for failing to report an “approach” to the board.

There was good news, however, for 21-year-old Harmeet Singh, who was part of India’s Under-19 World Cup-winning team in 2012. The left-arm spinner, who was battling charges similar to those of Trivedi, was cleared of wrongdoing due to lack of evidence.

The life ban, of course, means the end of the road for Sreesanth who represented India in 27 Tests and 53 ODIs. The pacer, however, appeared relaxed as he came out of the hearing room. “Pray for me. I’m clean and I have never cheated cricket in my life,” was all he said before leaving the ITC Maurya Sheraton.

However, as the verdict was delivered, he tweeted… “Been tracking the news channels... Me getting a life ban??!! Very surprising”. However, he deleted that tweet after a few minutes.

The verdict on another of their colleagues, Ajit Chandila, will be announced later. Chandila was released from jail on September 9 and has yet to be questioned by Ravi Sawani, head of the BCCI’s anti-corruption unit. Sawani will soon summon Chandila to hear his side of the story.

What was Srini doing in Delhi?
Meanwhile, the presence of Srinivasan at the meeting venue raised many an eyebrow. It must be mentioned here that the BCCI president filed an affidavit before the Mumbai high court on July 4, 2013, that he would stay away from the day-to-day affairs of the Board till allegations of corruption against his son-in-law Meiyappan are resolved.

“Well, no one objected to his presence officially during the course of the disciplinary committee meeting,” said a senior BCCI official, who was also present at the venue.

So, what does this mean for BCCI and Srinivasan?

dna’s query on the importance of Srinivasan’s presence was answered by the official on condition of anonymity. “The matter will come up for hearing in the Supreme Court later this month. Our elections will be held after that. So, if you think this is contempt of court, he will pay for it. Just wait,” the official said.
However, Aditya Verma, secretary of the Bihar Cricket Association, whose petition forced Srinivasan to step aside, told dna he would move contempt proceedings.

“This is clearly contempt of the honourable Bombay high court. I’m moving the honourable court against Srinivasan’s adamance to dominate the show,” said Verma.

Sawani’s recommendations
In his report, Sawani recommended bans ranging from five years to life for the four players found guilty on multiple accounts, including match-fixing.

“There is no specific mitigating factor that would require any mercy while sanctioning the aforesaid guilty players,” Sawani said in his report, adding: “Sreesanth has played a number of international games and was part of the Indian national team which won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 as well as the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011. He has received the ICC ACSU education programme on many occasions.

“In any case all the three players of Rajasthan Royals who are now being accused and found guilty by the under-signed received the ICC Education Programme just prior to the beginning of the IPL-6 season i.e. on April 5, 2013.”