Cricket’s Relativity Theory: No bar for daughter, brother in BCCI’s new constitution

Chennai, September 26

Rupa Gurunath, daughter of former BCCI chief N Srinivasan, was elected unopposed as the president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), making her the first woman to head a state unit of the Indian cricket board. 

 Srinivasan’s daughter’s elevation to the post of president is supported by the fact that there is no clause in the BCCI constitution which stops relatives from contesting elections or holding positions of power and influence.  

Rupa has not held any administrative position in cricket before and was not a member of the TNCA. She, however, is a full-time director at India Cements, the company owned by Srinivasan which also owns the Chennai Super Kings. 

Rupa said her first prioritywould be to resolve the long-standing issue of the three closed stands at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. “My immediate priorities are to finalise the lease agreement with the government and opening the three stands,” she said.

CoA terms TNCA constitution non-compliant

New Delhi: The Committee of Administrators (CoA) has deemed the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association’s new constitution as “non-compliant” on 21 counts, as per the Lodha Committee’s recommendations. TNCA has been asked to take corrective measures by October 4 if it wants to participate in the BCCI AGM on October 23.

With Rupa Gurunath taking over as TNCA's first woman president today, Srinivasan remains in control of the association. It is being speculated that thenewly-elected TNCA executive body in its upcoming meeting will elect Srinivasan as its representative at the BCCI AGM in Mumbai. Srinivasan is 73 years old and as per the amended BCCI constitution, he is ineligible for any role in the Indian cricket set-up. CoA believes that TNCA is “mischievously misinterpreting” the Supreme Court’s order of September 20, in which it was stated that “disqualification is confined to office-bearers only”

Oct 4 deadline for state representatives 

BCCI electoral officer N Gopalaswami set October 4 as the deadline for the nomination of state representatives for the BCCI Annual General Meeting. The BCCI AGM, during which elections will be held, is scheduled for October 23 in Mumbai. In the BCCI elections timeline issued by Gopalaswami, it was stated that the draft electoral roll will be released at 5pm on October 4. The final electoral roll will be released on October 10. The window to file nomination applications is from October 11 to 14, between 11am and 3pm. The scrutiny of the applications will be done on October 15 and on the same day the list of valid nominated candidates will be announced. — TNS, PTI