On the Hot Seat : Narayanaswami Srinivasan

Reporter: Mr. Srinivasan, you have often been trying defend the indefensible when it comes to the point of conflict of interest between you owning a team in a tournament conducted by BCCI and your role as the president of BCCI.

Srinivasan: What do you mean ‘indefensible’? I grew up learning cricket by watching

Gavaskar bat, it’s quite a task to penetrate through my defence. So, please stop underestimating my ability to defend.

Reporter: But… But… How do you explain the seemingly obvious conflict of interest that you own a team whose fortunes you can influence through your capacity as President of BCCI?

Srinivasan: What rubbish. Did you read BCCI’s annual report for the last financial year? You’ll find that BCCI had refunded Rs.13.10 crores to compensate the loss due to cancellation of inaugural CLT-20 tournament to both the IPL teams which qualified for it. You will notice that CSK didn’t take that money and suo-moto offered to return it back to BCCI. Please note that I have refunded the entire principal back. So the question of interest doesn’t even arise.

Reporter: *absolutely puzzled* Eh? Sir, as the president of BCCI you can tweak the rules and regulations to suit CSK, a team which is owned by the company for which you are the Managing Director. Why is it so difficult for you to understand?

Srinivasan: Who says I can’t understand? Why do you have to necessarily view it from the perspective of my post as president of BCCI? Look at it this way – I am the Managing Director of a company which has bought a team in the IPL. My company benefits if my team earns a surplus, which is greatly aided by the performance of the team. Now for my team to perform, I can do several things – pick a great team, get the best support staff etc., That’s something that every team owner will strive to do. I didn’t stop there. I went the extra mile and then some more. So I became the president of BCCI, thereby making it easier for me to make it easier for CSK to have the best chance to win the IPL every time. Come to think if it, the interests are perfectly aligned here.

Reporter: *Whatever* As an aside, wouldn’t the shareholder of India Cements be concerned about the fact that you returned the refund of Rs.13.10 crores that BCCI owed you legitimately. Is this some kind of charity?

Srinivasan: See, there is a clear conflict of interest here. You are invited to this press conference because you are a sports journalist and now you are jumping into corporate affairs territory. Hehe, the pot calls the kettle black, huh?!

Disclaimer: All questions and the responses are completely made up and any resemblance to reality is completely coincidental