Tainted Srinivasan set to return as Indian cricket chief

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has paved the way for the return of N Srinivasan as its chief, after an inquiry expectedly cleared his company India Cements of any wrongdoing in the Indian Premier League betting scandal.

India Cements owns the IPL team Chennai Super Kings, led by India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. But apparently, the inquiry by two retired judges saw no conflict of interest in the cricket board chief's company also owning a team in the lucrative IPL.

The panel formed by the BCCI also cleared Raj Kundra, co-owner of IPL team Rajasthan Royals, of charges in the now infamous spot-fixing scam.

Niranjan Shah, vice president of the BCCI, said on Sunday after a working committee meeting in Kolkata that no evidence of any wrongdoing has been found by the judges - T Jayaram Chouta and R Balasubramanian - against Raj Kundra, India Cements or the Rajasthan Royals.

The probe report will be forwarded to the IPL governing council, which will meet on 2 August for a final decision. According to most observers, this has paved the way for the return of the flabby and clearly unfit Srinivasan as the head of the richest body in world cricket.

Srinivasan stepped aside as the BCCI chief after his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, part of the Chennai Super Kings management, was arrested on charges of betting in IPL matches. He was later released on bail.

Earlier, Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra was questioned by Delhi Police and admitted to betting on IPL matches. Similarly Srinivasan's son-in-law Meiyappan – who was also part of the Super Kings management - has admitted to betting, but denied trying to fix matches.

The scandal broke up with the arrest of three cricketers - S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila - in the middle of the sixth edition of the IPL earlier this year.

"There is no evidence of any wrongdoing found by the judges against Raj Kundra, India Cements and Rajasthan Royals. The report will now be forwarded to the IPL governing council which will take a final decision when it meets on 2 August in New Delhi," Niranjan Shah told reporters.

Jagmohan Dalmiya, the interim head of the BCCI, echoed this almost word for word at a brief interaction with the media.