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If it weren't for the sharp suits that Narayanaswamy Srinivasan wears, he could be mistaken for a temple priest. The smear of red on his forehead adds an avuncular quality to his solemn, fair-complexioned face. The deeply religious Srinivasan is also believed to often look to heaven for help. They say he has his personal astrologer draw an auspicious triangle on the field every time his company's squad in the Indian Premier League, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), plays and he believes that this has helped the team become the most consistent side since the tournament began in 2008.
And yet, the 68-year-old president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Vice Chairman-cum-Managing Director of India Cements has not depended on fate or the stars alone for what he has achieved. Srinivasan may frequently conduct pujas in his high-rise office at MRC Nagar in Chennai, but leaf into his history as a corporate chief and sports administrator and you will find a decisive, or as some say "ruthless and cunning", person who pursues his interest relentlessly. These are qualities that can be lauded in company boardrooms or in sports arena. They can equally be the cause of ruination. And today, Srinivasan stands on the cusp of these two realities, with his position as BCCI chief under intense scrutiny after his son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan, was arrested by the police for links to betting circles at a time when India Cements is the owner of the IPL franchise.
The soft-spoken Srinivasan once told Forbes, "I don't go looking for fights. Fights come looking for me." It is perhaps a quote pithy enough to be part of the writings of great people he loves reading, or of the mystery novels he devours. His refusal to step down as the BCCI head, however, seems one instance when he has himself gone looking for a brawl.
Businessman on a mission
As a businessman, you could say Srinivasan has been an undaunted fighter. India Cements was started in 1946 by Shankaralinga Iyer, banker and heavy-industry pioneer, who took along with him Srinivasan's father, TS Narayanaswami, then a trusted manager working for the banker.
Following his father's death in 1968, Srinivasan returned to India from the United States where he was studying for a master's degree in chemical engineering. He joined India Cements as the deputy MD. Things went well until the early 1980s when the relationship between the founders' sons, Srinivasan and KS Narayanan, soured and they went to court. Srinivasan lost control of the company's operation as the institutional investor, IDBI, took over.
It took nine years for Srinivasan to regain the company, with the support of his close friend, former Union minister Murasoli Maran. With Iyer family scion, N Sankar, as chairman, Srinivasan was given full freedom to chalk out a growth strategy for the company.
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Revamping the company was not an easy task. A long-time employee recalls Srinivasan's numerous trips to Mumbai to make presentations to lenders and the hours he was made to sit on plastic chairs outside their offices. "He never sent anyone else to make these presentations," he remembers. Then, as he does now, Srinivasan did not carry computers and PowerPoint files. He dealt with paper documents. He does not carry laptops or smartphones or other gadgets around even today. His only concession to modern machines is his cars. For most daily use, Srinivasan prefers his Range Rover.
Through acquisitions, often doggedly pursued, India Cements' grew as a company. Commentators wrote, "Srinivasan has mastered the art of friendly as well as hostile takeovers. He uses his political connections very subtly so that very few notice the series of coincidences." The acquisitions, however, created a debt burden of around Rs 1,600 crore, and coupled with falling price of cement, Srinivasan had no choice left but to go through the mortification of opting for corporate debt restructuring (CDR) in January 2003. With an audacious effort to mop in funds overseas, he got his company back on its feet.
By 2009, Srinivasan had consolidated his stake in India Cements to 28 percent, having bought out the holdings of the Iyer family as well as that of his brother Ramachandran. His wife, Chitra, is today a director in the company. In 2012-13, India Cements clocked a revenue of Rs 4,613.62 crore, while profit stood at Rs 163.55 crore.
V Srinivasan, research analyst at Angel Broking, says that the recent events involving CSK would have little impact on the core business of India Cements since demand for its core product was unlikely to be affected. However, the corporate governance of the company has taken a beating. In case the company decides to raise money in the future, the investors may consider these events seriously. Analysts also say that potential revocation of CSK from IPL would not impact on the cement company - at most the company's marketing/ branding expenses may increase.
Toughie in the arena
It is in sports that Srinivasan has been seen as being more pugnacious. Many say he is manipulative, other say he has the acumen of a great administrator. Most would agree that he is a power player.
As a youth, Srinivasan played tennis and hockey and was once the president of the All India Chess Federation. His favourite individual sport is golf, for which he travels frequently to Kodaikanal, a hill station in Tamil Nadu.
But Srinivasan's first love has been cricket. India Cements owns 14-15 cricket teams in the state, CSK being the biggest of them. He became an office bearer in the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association in 1995-96 and the ambitious man was able to, according to a senior TNCA member, unite four-five warring factions under his leadership to take over the presidentship in 2002-03.
The top post at BCCI was a natural advance, and he took over in 2011. Officials in state associations admit that Srinivasan "is very capable". Under his watch, these bodies and former players have received bounties from the BCCI, they say. His critics have a different viewpoint and say this is Srinivasan's way of controlling associations and individuals. One of the sources described him as "an able administrator, but ruthless in implementing his decisions".
By way of tough negotiations on telecasting rights and team sponsorships, Jagmohan Dalmiya, former BCCI president, injected commercialism into the manner in which the cricket board mobilised funds. Srinivasan, with his corporate experience, fitted into such a scenario. "So far, three people - Dalmiya, Lalit Modi and Srinivasan - have been the most capable at handling BCCI's commercial activities," says Badri Seshadri, co-founder of cricket portal Cricinfo.com, now with ESPN. But, he adds, Srinivasan is the one who understood the game better than the other two.
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Srinivasan's methods, however, have caused controversies. He has created enemies, including AC Muthiah, the man who introduced him to sports administration in TNCA. Muthiah has filed a suit in the Supreme Court saying that India Cement owning CSK is clearly a case of conflict of interest and rules were twisted to enable this. Srinivasan pleads that all decisions related to CSK and other franchises were taken by the BCCI general body and the general council of IPL. "There is no decision made exclusively for one franchise. Decisions were made by all these people for all franchisees," he said in an interview.
The calls for his ouster are growing even if he was initially able to stall efforts to replace him at the helm. Srinivasan had told a TV channel that cricket, the famed game of uncertainties, could catch you unawares. He suddenly finds himself at the business end of that sporting axiom.
