Disqualify CSK,sack Srinivasan

Does a side,whose top official is arrested for dubious links with bookies,have the right to be on the podium? Not quite,if the Indian Premier League wants to be seen as a credible tournament and the BCCI are honest about their urgently launched clean-up operation in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal. It might be the ultimate anti-climax of this season but Chennai Super Kings lost the right to be at the Eden Gardens on Sunday the moment Mumbai Police arrested Gurunath Meiyappan,the man who played the owner to the hilt and sat authoritatively in the canary yellow dug-out. According to the police probing the case,they have evidence of his Gurunaths involvement in the offence we are investigating. The IPL rule book is clear on the issue: the franchise that brings disrepute to IPL gets scrapped. That,of course,should be complemented by BCCI president N Srinivasan and IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla,under whose watch the league has sunk to this level,stepping down. IPL and the BCCI need a change and it should start from the top. With CSKs influential decision-maker under suspicion,there might be more dirt in the dressing room and the board room. Tough times call for tough decisions. Individually,the players can be clean but collectively,CSK has dirt on its hands. In case the team with a cloud of suspicion over it finishes as the champion,or even the runners-up,Season 6 will be the worst advertisement of IPL and the game in the country.