Never buckled down under pressure, asserts N Srinivasan

11/08/2019

Former BCCI President N Srinivasan has said that he was not troubled by the pressure put on him by the probe against his IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and his son-in law Gurunath Meiyappan. He believes that the probe only made him stronger as a person and he is back into power at BCCI.

N Srinivasan was put under immense pressure when his franchise CSK and corruption charges against his son-in-law were under a strong probe but he believed that a turnaround of the probe was possible only because he was strong enough to sustain the pressure tactics used against him and has been successful in getting free of all the accusations against him.

"Cricket was supposed to be a gentleman's game. But the way the onslaught on CSK and me happened, there was only one thread in common: attack Srinivasan. The attack was severe and pointed. We were put under the gun," he told TOI.

"There was also this one occasion when a senior police officer contacted me and passed on the message from some other authorities 'Ask Srinivasan to step down (as BCCI president) and nothing will happen'. But then we chose to resist. It was a natural instinct of mine that I would never buckle down to this pressure tactics," Srinivasan added.

During delivering a lecture at the IIT Madras campus on "Leadership in Turbulent Times", Srinivasan told the students the importance of staying strong and believing in yourself when tough times are around.

"You must recognise the threat which is real and shouldn't try to answer to perceptions and go into shadow boxing," he asserted.

"Now, the Committee of Administrators has left and it's history today. BCCI is going back to its regular functioning and our position is sealed."

Questions were also raised on MS Dhoni as the former Indian captain was accused to be involved in match-fixing during the probe but his calm attitude and mental strength is what helped him get through that difficult period and this is what Srinivasan told the students to take inspiration from. Dhoni captained CSK again after their return from a two-year ban and managed to win them the title in the 2018 edition of the IPL.

"Turbulence can hit anybody. But Dhoni and CSK dealt with it on merit and with cold-blooded focus and it took us to victory," Srinivasan said.

"We have always owned the franchise and not the players. That's why the players respect us and wants to give everything for us on the ground."