27 March,2014 01:48 PM IST | | Agencies
Supreme Court proposes to suspend IPL franchises CSK and RR from upcoming IPL 7; Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar agrees to replace N Srinivasan as interim president of the BCCI
MS Dhoni, Chennai Super Kings
New Delhi: Former India captain and legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar said Thursday he was ready to become interim president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as proposed by the Supreme Court.
A panel of judges also said the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals -- the two teams at the centre of an ongoing probe into illegal betting and match-fixing -- should be barred from the next edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) beginning next month.
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MS Dhoni, captain of Chennai Super Kings
"In the place of Srinivasan, we propose to appoint an experienced cricket player like Sunil Gavaskar to replace him and function as BCCI president," Justice A.K. Patnaik said at a hearing in New Delhi.
"We are not removing anyone now, but Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals will not be allowed to participate in the IPL which commences on April 16," added Patnaik, who is head of the two-judge panel.
The bench asked the Board to give its response by tomorrow on its proposals after which it will pass an interim order. The bench also proposed to pass an order barring India Cements officials from getting involved with the functioning of BCCI after senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for Cricket Association of Bihar, pointed out that many such officials are at present part of BCCI team.
Salve also raised questions on the conduct of captain of Indian Cricket Team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is also vice president of India Cements, saying that he is guilty of corrupt practices.
The proposals came two days after the same court urged Srinivasan to stand down as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to enable a "fair" investigation into allegations surrounding last year's IPL.
The bench is looking at a damning report it commissioned into wrongdoing in last year's edition of the annual Twenty20 tournament.
Released in February, the report concluded that Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan could be guilty of illegal betting on IPL games.
Srinivasan is regarded as the most powerful man in world cricket and is due to take over in July as head of the International Cricket Council.
