Narayanaswami Srinivasan: The timeline of the latest czar of international cricket

Come July 2014, the Board of Control for Cricket in India supremo, Narayanaswami Srinivasan will claim his throne as the newly crowned czar of world cricket. After weeks of contemplation, rejection and submission, the "position paper" proposed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, England and Wales Cricket Board and Cricket Australia - a draft to revamp the ICC - was accepted, allowing N Srinivasan to assume the role of the ICC chairman.

Wading through corruption charges, conflict of interest issues and alleged political clout, the 67-year-old businessman from Chennai has climbed his way up to the highest rung of cricket administration, to claim his throne at the pinnacle of the sport.

From a beginner in the world of cricket administration with Tamil Nadu Cricket Board in 2001 to perhaps, one of the most influential and controversial figure of world cricket in 2014, Srinivasan's journey is a fascinating and an uncanny one, featuring more ups than downs. Here is the timeline that encompasses his early nascent steps to his current giant leap and everything in between.

Srinivasan's baby steps came in 2001 when he entered cricket administration through Tamil Nadu as an ally of erstwhile BCCI president AC Muttiah. In a span of just one year, Srinivasan crept up the ladder to attain the role of the president of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association.

The first real hunger and fight for power was witnessed in 2005. He informally joined forces with Indian politician Sharad Pawar to oust the then BCCI supremo Jagmohan Dalmiya. At this juncture, Srinivasan became the treasurer of the board while Pawar usurped Dalmiya for BCCI top-spot. This was perhaps, when the first seeds of power were sown by Srinivasan.

In 2008 came the first conflict of interest. Srinivasan-owned Chennai-based corporate entity, India Cements Inc. won the bid for the Chennai Super Kings at a whopping 1.5 million USD. This was a clear-cut case of conflict of interest as Srinivasan, at the point in time, was the treasurer of the board. However, he managed to arm-twist his way to safety as the clause of the IPL was changed as per his whims and fancies. The clause which earlier prevented any administrator of the board to have any direct or indirect commercial interest in events organized by the board was conveniently amended, bringing in IPL and Champions League T20 as the exceptions to the rule.

Year 2008 turned out to be far more eventful for the businessman-turned-cricket administrator from Chennai. He went on to become the BCCI secretary. Two years later in 2010, AC Muttiah, who was Srinivasan's ally when he entered cricket administration, filed a petition challenging the board rules that were bent to allow an individual holding an administrative post in the BCCI to own an IPL franchise. These claims however, went to deaf ears as the Madras High Court dismissed the plea.

2010 was probably the most decisive year in Srinivasan's position in the BCCI. In his duration since 2001, he had done enough to slowly but steadily make his way to the very top. He got a strong backing and nominations from not just the south but also from outside his zone, like Saurashtra, Orissa and Jharkhand.

However, along came a road block in April 2011 when a two-member panel of judges of the Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on the petition filed by Muttiah. Based on this verdict, Muttiah went on to file a petition in August same year to stop Srinivasan from officially taking over as the president of BCCI. Just a month later in September, the Supreme Court cleared the way, allowing Srinivasan to his first dream of stepping onto the highest pedestal of the richest cricket board. His two year term begins in the same month, taking over from Shashank Manohar.

One of his big moves as the BCCI head was to criticize the Decision Review System and maintain BCCI's negative stance against it. While every other playing nation had accepted and imbibed it into the tournaments they participated in and hosted, India played hard ball and maintained status quo.

In early 2012, there are back-and-forth tussle and volleys between the BCCI and the team's main sponsor Sahara Group, who also owned the now defunct IPL franchise Pune Warriors India. Srinivasan managed to reconcile after a strain in their relationship to get Sahara to extend their deal. The year 2011 and 2012 proved to a disastrous one for the Indian team who suffered back-to-back 4-0 Test losses overseas - in England and Australia - after which Indian skipper MS Dhoni came under severe scrutiny. While the calls for sacking him were growing rather loud, Srinivasan was accused of shielding the Indian skipper by former player Mohinder Amarnath. BCCI did not respond to his comments and Dhoni stayed on.

The mother of all controversies came upon the IPL in 2013 and N Srinivasan when a massive spot-fixing and betting scandal broke out, putting the cash-rich tournament's credibility in danger. Intensive investigations suggested the involvement of Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of Srinivasan in the betting scandal.  Three players of Rajasthan Royals, including Indian Test cricketer S Sreesanth as well as Meiyappan were arrested for their involvement and yet Srinivasan was unmoved. Srinivasan maintained his grit and staunch determination to come away unscathed from such a calamity and managed to hold on to his coveted position. He accused the media of hounding him, was quoted saying he cannot be 'bulldozed and railroaded' from his post and even went on to claim that Meiyappan was merely a cricket enthusiast. Even with huge cries for him to resign, he stayed rock-solid and only side-stepped temporarily till matters cooled down.

His perseverance has now borne fruit as he is set to take over as the new chief of the ICC by mid-2014 and implement the latest rules and guidelines set by the 'Big Three' for the functioning of the ICC.