Will IPL Chief Executive Officer Sundar Raman resign this week?
Sunil Gavaskar, the interim BCCI president, is under pressure to sack IPL CEO Sundar Raman, who has run the T20 league since its inception in 2008. Sundar Raman's name has been linked with the IPL betting and match-fixing scam.
Indian Premier League Chief Executive Officer Sundar Raman is reportedly under pressure to quit. With the Supreme Court inquiry committee linking him to the IPL betting and match-fixing scandal, Sundar Raman's credibility is much at stake. Media reports suggest that he may 'resign' this week.
On Wednesday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India's lawyers requested the Supreme Court to release transcripts of the tapes allegedly containing conversations between bookies and Sundar Raman, Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni and ousted Board chief N. Srinivasan. The tapes were submitted to the Supreme Court in a sealed envelope by the inquiry committee headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal on February 10.
The 41-year-old Sundar Raman has been with the IPL ever since its inception. He was known as Lalit Modi's Man Friday but when the former IPL commissioner was booted out from the BCCI, Sundar Raman became a Srinivasan 'loyalist.'
Sundar Raman, a veteran in the world of global marketing, has been mentioned in the Mudgal committee reports. The Mumbai police had submitted transcripts to the probe panel indicating the role of Sundar Raman in passing insider information which clearly aided and abetted betting in IPL 2013. The Mudgal reports also highlight Sundar Raman's proximity to Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, who has been indicted for betting.
Cricket Association of Bihar secretary Aditya Verma has already mounted considerable pressure on Gavaskar to sack Sundar Raman. In a letter to the former Test captain this week, Verma wrote: "I had earlier invited your kind attention to the fact that Mr. Sundar Raman's continuation as COO of IPL is deeply prejudicial to the interest of IPL and game of cricket."
Verma claims Gavaskar has replied to his letter, saying he was evaluating the situation. "I am seized of the matter and evaluating all the information that I am getting," Verma quoted Gavaskar as saying.
The Supreme Court will hear BCCI's application on the tapes on Friday. Sundar Raman's position may become untenable if the transcripts do confirm the probe committee's findings.