Will the real Modi step up please?

By John Cheeran

Mr BCCI president, where are you? Where is your son-in-law?

We are waiting to hear from you about your ‘innocence’ and the professional manner in which you have been running the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Chennai Super Kings IPL franchise.

But by refusing to meet Mumbai police team that went to Chennai on Thursday, your son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, CEO of Chennai Super Kings, has put BCCI and you on back foot. Now India wonders whether there is anything for you guys to hide from law enforcement agencies in the backdrop of spot-fixing scandal. Evidently, investigation into spot-fixing by three Rajasthan Royal cricketers, has not been unfolding as per the script. Mumbai police claims that Meiyappan has been keeping close links with Vindu Dara Singh, a Bollywood actor in cahoots with bookmakers. The fact that both Meiyappan and Srinivasan kept cops guessing about their whereabouts on Thursday is a mocking move that reeks of subterfuge and arrogance. If law permits, by now, cops should be sifting through telephone conversation transcripts of Meiyappan and Srinivasan to find out the truth. And truth involves not just these two.

Betting is illegal in India. Cricket fans and public, at large, want to know about the association between Vindu and BCCI president’s son-in-law. Has Meiyappan placed bets on the outcome of IPL matches? If he has, what is the nature of those bets? If a CEO of an IPL franchise, which is interestingly being led by India’s captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, is into betting, then it sets off many questions. Those questions can wait, depending on what Mumbai police reveals after questioning Meiyappan.

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