Supreme Court names Gavaskar interim BCCI head

The Supreme Court Friday appointed cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar as interim president of the Indian cricket board in place of the tainted incumbent N. Srinivasan.

An apex court bench headed by Justice A.K. Patnaik said Gavaskar would only be concerned with matters related to the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The rest of the functions of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would be discharged by its senior-most vice president, Shivlal Yadav

Having appointed Gavaskar as interim president, the court said he will not continue his present assignment as a commentator and would be adequately compensated for it by the cricketing body.

The Supreme Court also barred all those associated with Srinivasan's India Cements company from functioning in BCCI.

Since the court's order restraining Srinivasan could have been read against him from assuming the charge of chairman of ICC in July this year, the court said "we have not formed any opinion" and are passing an interim order till the probe into allegations of betting are complete.

The court has allowed IPL teams Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals from participating in IPL matches.

Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, who was the team principal of Chennai Super Kings, was arrested last year by the Mumbai Police on charges of betting in the IPL.

The Mukul Mugdal committee, which was set up by the apex court, has also inducted Meiyappan of being involved in the betting scandal.

Srinivasan, however, had tried to pass off Meiyappan as merely a cricket enthusiast.

The seventh season the IPL begins in UAE April 16.