Court says Srinivasan guilty of conflict of interest

(Agencies) NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court ordered Thursday world cricket chief Narayanaswami Srinivasan to give up his stake in the Indian Premier League if he wanted to be re-elected head of the country’s powerful board.

The court found Srinivasan guilty of a conflict of interest for having commercial dealings in the sport while head of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) by owning an Indian Premier League franchise.

“Srinivasan or any other administrator can’t contest elections (to the BCCI) (while) they have those interests,” the two-judge bench was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.

The court was ruling on the findings of a panel it appointed last year to investigate betting and other scandals in the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL).

Srinivasan, 70, is managing director of India Cements which owns the Chennai Super Kings franchise captained by India skipper Mahendra Dhoni.

Although the court on Thursday absolved Srinivasan of any specific wrongdoing, it struck down an IPL rule which allowed BCCI members to own a team in the popular Twenty20 tournament.

Srinivasan, appointed International Cricket Council chief last year, has not yet commented on whether he will run for the BCCI president’s post at elections in six weeks time for a second term or give up his stake in the Chennai Super Kings.

The court had barred Srinivasan from carrying out his duties as BCCI president, a post he held since 2011, until it delivered its final verdict.

The court also appointed Thursday a panel headed by a former chief justice of India to recommend changes to BCCI rules to avoid any future conflict of interest by its members.

The court agreed with the Mudgal panel that Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan took part in illegal betting while a team official of the Chennai Super Kings, as did Raj Kundra, owner of the Rajasthan Royals.

The sixth IPL season last year was mired in controversy after police launched legal proceedings against several officials and cricketers, including former Test fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, for illegal betting and spot-fixing.

International news organisations including Agence France-Presse have suspended on-field coverage of matches hosted by the BCCI since 2012 after the board imposed restrictions on picture agencies.

Ravi Shastri 'bullish' about India's Test future

@Cric Info

India team director Ravi Shastri is "bullish" about the Test side's future, saying that the key was to develop an attack that could take 20 wickets on a regular basis. The deciding factor in the ongoing four-Test series, which Australia won after maintaining their 2-0 lead by drawing the third Test at the MCG, according to Shastri, was the difference between the bowling groups: Australia's had experience and India's did not.

"There's hard work ahead no doubt," Shastri said. "Primarily, we have to get or develop bowlers who can get 20 wickets regularly. But I am extremely bullish. The most important thing is we have got an aggressive mindset. Let's talk 12-15 months down the road."

India will be led by Virat Kohli in the final Test in Sydney, following MS Dhoni's sudden retirement from Test cricket at the end of the third match in Melbourne, a development Shastri said had left the dressing-room "stumped". However, he said the change in leadership was unlikely to affect the players' mindsets.

"In my days, I played under several captains, none of whom were alike," Shastri said. "Captains have their own personalities and the best ones make players adapt to their thinking and methods."
It was an unexpected decision no doubt, but a courageous one. In my esteem Dhoni has gone up by miles. He hasn't waited to complete 100 Tests and all such pointless statistical stuff. He didn't want any farewell fanfare. That shows his character. He's different and quite remarkable."
Ishant Sharma,most experienced player in the Indian Test side now has been appointed as vice-captain of Indian Cricket team.
Source :- CricInfo

MS Dhoni Retires From TEST cricket

" Dhoni the Legend  "

 Melbourne: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has retired from test cricket "citing the strain of playing all formats," and Virat Kohli will lead the team in the fourth test against Australia in Sydney, the country's cricket board said on Tuesday.

The shock announcement came minutes after Dhoni faced reporters in the wake of India's draw in the third test against Australia in Melbourne, which conceded the four-match series 2-0 to the hosts.

Dhoni said nothing of his retirement plans during the post-match media conference at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the news was broken on the Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI's twitter feed.
His stewardship is likely to be hotly debated for months and years to come, having taken India's test team to the world number one ranking for a brief period, but also leading a team that would invariably fail to perform away from home soil.
 "One of India's greatest Test captains under whose leadership India became the No. 1 team in the test rankings, MS Dhoni, has decided to retire from Test cricket citing the strain of playing all formats of cricket," the board said. "BCCI, while respecting the decision of MS Dhoni to retire from Test cricket, wishes to thank him for his enormous contribution to Test cricket and the laurels that he has brought to India. Virat Kohli will be the captain of the Indian team for the fourth and final Test against Australia to be played in Sydney."