Pushed to the brink following the Supreme Court's sweeping proposals to clean up the game, a beleaguered BCCI President N Srinivasan found himself under intense pressure to step down with senior administrators and former players asking him to abide by the apex court's suggestions.
Srinivasan spent most part of the day at home in Chennai having telephonic conferences with his legal experts and his close confidants in the BCCI but continued to maintain a stoic silence on the developments.
In a huge jolt for the Tamil Nadu strongman, the Supreme Court today proposed the replacement of Srinivasan by former captain Sunil Gavaskar and suspension of franchises Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals from IPL 7 till the pendency of the betting and spot fixing case.
The apex court also proposed to pass an order barring India Cements officials from getting involved with the functioning of BCCI.
Soon after the court's proposals, more pressure was put on Srinivasan to voluntarily step down from the president's post with legends of the game like Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Bishan Singh Bedi and Kris Srikkanth asking him to abide by the apex court's suggestions.
BCCI Vice-President Ravi Sawant, former secretary Niranjan Shah and former treasurer Ajay Shirke were among the administrators who urged him to quit in the interest of Indian cricket.
Gavaskar was open to the idea of taking up the president's post, saying it will be a great "honour" to adhere to the directives of the highest court of the land.
"First and foremost, if the highest court suggests something, you have to do so but that has to be on record. I am currently contracted with BCCI as a commentator. But if Supreme Court wants me to do that, I will do it," he said.
