Chennai:
Rupa Gurunath, daughter of former BCCI chief N Srinivasan, was on Thursday elected unopposed as president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), making her the first woman to head a state unit of the Indian Board. Rupa is the wife of Gurunath Meiyappan, who is serving a life ban for his involvement in the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal. Rupa was elected at the TNCA's 87th Annual General Meeting in Chennai. As the filing of nominations came to a close on Wednesday evening, Rupa's was the only nomination filed for the post of president, whose election was announced on the floor of the house as per TNCA norms.
The TNCA's Executive meeting on Sunday decided to hold the elections on Thursday. TNCA recently hit the headlines after unnamed officials, coaches and players in its franchise-based Tamil Nadu Premier League were accused of being involved in match-fixing. The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) has initiated an inquiry into alleged fixing approaches during Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) tournament. BCCI started the probe after few players from the league received 'messages from certain unknown people'.
Also Read | ICC issues ultimatum to BCCI, says it risks losing 2023 World Cup – This is the reason
"Some of the players have reported that they received WhatsApp messages from unknown people. We are trying to track back the sender of the message. We have recorded statements of the players," BCCI’s ACU Chief Ajeet Singh told ANI. According to a report in Indian Express, the investigation by the BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Unit has found rampant corruption in the league. The report also claimed that an India player, an IPL regular and a Ranji Trophy coach are among those who figure in the probe.
Also Read | SC restrains N Srinivasan, Niranjan Shah from attending BCCI SGM
The reports also quoted sources saying that bookies and match-fixers, after taking control of a franchise through an illegal deal with the team owner, are running "the team in such a way that they make windfall gain in betting". The report also said that ACU is likely to lodge an FIR with the state police in the coming days.
