N. Srinivasan confident about Chennai Super Kings' return
Former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, N. Srinivasan has once again made his way into the spotlight after a considerably prolonged period of lull. The 71-year-old who was forced to shy away from his presidential post at the BCCI following an unpleasant interlude of betting allegations in the Indian Premier League seemed pretty confident last evening as he told the media that his IPL franchise, Chennai Super Kings will soon be back in action “without any external intervention.”
Owned by India Cements, Chennai Super Kings was by far the most successful franchise in the Indian Premier League as of 2015 and it was N. Srinivasan who acted as the Managing Director (MD) of CSK before it was barred from participating in the 2016 and the 2017 editions of the IPL by the Supreme Court of India last year.
“At the moment, we don’t have an IPL team in Chennai. But one season has already gone. Just one more to go. CSK will be back automatically,” N. Srinivasan told the press last night. The 71-year-old Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) president announced the names of all the eight franchise owners of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL)- a franchise-based T20 tournament.
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The former BCCI president also admitted that things are currently going a bit lull in the “cricket-deprived” state of Tamil Nadu with the absence of the Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL). “It’s a little lull. We all feel the absence of cricket because the Chennai team is not there. But time will fly, don’t worry. Chennai is a permanent Test Centre and the city is synonymous with cricket. The TNPL is important for the state in a lot of aspects. We are in talks with the BCCI to allow other state cricketers to compete in our league. Hopefully, they will agree,” he told the press.
When asked whether he thinks that the reputation of Tamil Nadu cricket has taken a beating following the whole ‘IPL match-fixing saga’, Srinivasan replied, “I don’t think there is any damage to it. All of you (present here), touch your hearts and say, what and why it happened?”
N. Srinivasan has also admitted that he believes Anurag Thakur is capable enough to lead BCCI from the very front. “I think Anurag Thakur is very experienced. He is capable. I have already sent him a message wishing him best,” he added.