Court wants Chennai, Rajasthan out of IPL

The Supreme Court in India has proposed suspending the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals from participating in the next Indian Premier League tournament starting in the UAE next month.

It also proposed Test great Sunil Gavaskar as a temporary replacement for Narayanaswami Srinivasan to lead India’s cricket board until the completion of an investigation into match-fixing in the Indian Premier League.

Srinivasan’s lawyer, Aditya Verma, on Thursday said the court is expected to rule on his client’s short-term future Friday after a response from the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of BCCI president Srinivasan, was indicted last month on charges of betting and passing on information to illegal bookmakers.

“If the Supreme Courts asks me to do something, I will be happy to do it,” Gavaskar told NDTV. “But not having IPL is not going to help. When match-fixing cropped up, no one said to stop Test cricket.

“We will have to wait and see what direction the Supreme Court gives. But any cricket lover will feel sad if Chennai doesn’t play in the IPL. They have given a lot of joy to fans.”