BCCI delays IPL launch press conference in Dubai

Zee Media Bureau/Chaitan Papnai

New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday postponed the launching press conference of India Premier `s League (IPL) seventh edition, which was scheduled to take place in UAE today, shortly after the Supreme Court made strong observations against Board`s chief N Srinivasan. The apex court today proposed the BCCI that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Rajasthan Royals (RR) - 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 IPL beginning next month. "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," Justice AK Patnaik said at a hearing. The apex court also stated that players who are associated with India cement, a company owned by BCCI chief N Srinivasan, should also not participate in the forthcoming edition of cash-rich IPL. It means, IPL which is scheduled to kick-start from April 16 is under serious doubts. The news has certainly pushed the BCCI on the back-foot, as the SC also recommended that batting legend Sunil Gavaskar should take over as interim president of the cricket board in place of the embattled incumbent N Srinivasan. "In the place of Srinivasan, we propose to appoint an experienced cricket player like Sunil Gavaskar to replace him and function as BCCI president,” Patnaik, who is head of the two-judge panel, said. The proposals came two days after the same court urged Srinivasan to step down as president of the BCCI to enable a "fair" investigation into allegations surrounding last year`s IPL. The bench is examining 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. With Agency inputs