Gurunath Meiyappan runs CSK: Hussey

BCCI president N Srinivasan might have called his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan as just a cricket enthusiast but Chennai Super Kings opener Michael Hussey has said that the betting-accused official was actually running the IPL team. In his book, Underneath the Southern Cross, Hussey has said that team owner N Srinivasan had handed the control of the team to Mr. Meiyappan.

“Our owner was Indian Cements, headed by Mr Srinivasan,” Hussey wrote in his book. “As he was also on the board of the BCCI, he gave control of the team to his son-in-law Mr Gurunath. He ran the team along with Kepler Wessels, who was coach.” Former team principal of Chennai Super Kings, Mr. Meiyappan was charge sheeted along with 21 others for gambling, cheating and criminal conspiracy, in the spot-fixing case of the Indian Premier League.

Mr. Meiyappan was accused of revealing confidential information of his team and using the same for betting. However, Mr. Srinivasan and India Cements distanced themselves from Mr. Meiyappan with the BCCI president calling him just a “cricket enthusiast“.

Mr. Meiyappan was arrested by the Mumbai Police in May and named in the betting charge sheet last month. Prior to his arrest, the senior CSK official was involved in the functioning of the Chennai team as he could be spotted in the team dugout, at auction tables. Mr. Meiyappan also represented himself as the team principal on a verified Twitter account.

After the scandal broke out, a two-member probe panel was constituted by the BCCI and it eventually cleared the Super Kings of any wrongdoing, but Cricket Association of Bihar moved court and procured a stay order. The Supreme Court had said on Monday that Mr. Srinivasan, who was re-elected as BCCI President in the AGM on Sunday, will not participate in matters relating to IPL and the spot fixing issue. The next hearing is scheduled on October 7.