ICC warned BCCI about Meiyappan's betting activities

The Indian cricket establishment found itself in a deeper hole on Thursday after CNN-IBN accessed a portion transcripts of conversations between Vindoo Dara Singh and Chennai Super Kings owner Gurunath Meiyappan, both arrested on charges of cricket betting, that revealed the International Cricket Council (ICC) had warned the BCCI over the involvement of Meiyappan in betting.

"[The] ICC has warned them (BCCI) about me," Meiyappan told Vindoo according to the transcript. The damaging news cast a serious doubt over the credibility of the BCCI, which, according to the transcript, did not act despite such a specific warning by the apex body. In reaction, however, the BCCI president denied to the channel any such intimation by the ICC. "I have received no information from the ICC," Srinivasan told CNN-IBN. But with his son-in-law Meiyappan clearly stating the ICC's warning to the Indian cricker board, it is apparent that someone in the BCCI had tipped off the CSK CEO and team principal, which in itself is a crime under Indian laws. The transcripts also revealed Meiyappan giving specific orders to Vindoo on amounts of bets to be placed. Meiyappan's instructions were also about specific players in other IPL teams playing on a day. The conversation also revealed that Meiyappan was even instructing bets on specific runs in an over, which brings him under the spot-fixing scanner as well. Some Mumbai police sources told CNN-IBN that information may not have gone through the BCCI but rather sent straight to Meiyappan; however, that too is questionable and not the protocol that ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit follows. But why then did the BCCI, who according to the transcript was warned by the ICC, not take corrective measures? In fact, it remained silent about until CNN-IBN exposed this. Why did the BCCI not act against Meiyappan as soon as the ICC gave them specific information? That is a serious question and one that has enraged the fans and cricket fraternity alike. This, if anything, has tightened the noose around Srinivasan and will only add to the clamour for his head that is getting stronger every day.
Hours after this news broke, BCCI sources told CNN-IBN that a meeting could be called on June 6 or 8, but that did not silence the growing opposition to Srinivasan. A chorus of voices reacted with shock and concern to the CNN-IBN expose. Former India cricketer Kirti Azad called the revelation a very "serious charge", adding that the events have agitated him. "I am surprised and not yet surprised. It is a very serious charge .... The entire BCCI should resign ... I feel really agitated and ashamed that I am associated with BCCI ... This is a very serious charge; this has been happening for a long time," he told CNN-IBN. "This is cheating and criminal conspiracy. They have cheated 121 million people of this country ... If the allegations are true, that the ICC had informed the IPL and BCCI ... then all of them should resign from their post, go to the nearest police situation and hand them over to police ... if the ICC had informed them, they are biggest traitors ... They should all go to jail," he added. Former India batsman and chief selector Kris Srikanth echoed his 1983 World Cup team-mate. "I am very shocked about this development. Cricket needs to be cleaned up completely. If [the] ICC had warned the BCCI, then it's a very, very sad day. If it is true, then I am very surprised why BCCI had not taken the corrective measure. We cannot fool the public," he said. "I am in state a shock," said former India opener Chetan Chauhan. "Any ICC correspondence goes to the BCCI secretary who must inform the other office bearers. And if this is true, then the BCCI must have passed this information onto the IPL Governing Council. If this is true, then questions must be asked to BCCI office-bearers. Why this warning was not taken seriously and why no action was taken and why Gurunath was not taken away from CSK?" Jaywant Lele, a former BCCI secretary said: "[The] IPL commissioner may not be aware [of the ICC warning about Meiyappan]. If [the] BCCI got this information, then why a collective action was not taken? If this was communicated to Srinivasan, then he is such a man that he won't let anybody else know about it. He is such a big man that he is not easily approachable. He may be the only one knowing about it. If he is the only one who knew and kept it under cover, then it is time for him to disgracefully go out. [The] Chennai Super Kings franchise should also be removed now." Former BCCI president AC Muthiah said that if the revelations were true, then there is no doubt that Srinivasan knew about it. "[The] ICC must have passed this information to the BCCI president. This is completely going out of hand; action should have been taken after the warning," he told CNN-IBN. Also weighing in was 1996 World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who has significant experience of running a national cricket board in Sri Lanka. "The entire IPL governing body should resign if they had been informed about it. I think this is a big worry for Indian cricket. Other nations look up to Indian cricket," he told the channel. Meiyappan, a top official of the CSK and son-in-law of BCCI chief N Srinivasan, was arrested by Mumbai Police on charges of cheating, forgery and fraud. On Friday, the custody of Vindoo and Meiyappan was extended till June 3. The Mumbai Police had argued that further custody was necessary to complete their investigations at a Mumbai court where they had been produced.