Narayanaswami Srinivasan became the symbol of cricket's governance crisis when the IPL fixing scandal of 2013 exposed the massive conflict of interest at the heart of Indian cricket. As BCCI president, Srinivasan was supposed to oversee the integrity of the IPL, but he was also the owner of India Cements, which owned the Chennai Super Kings franchise.
When his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested for betting in May 2013, Srinivasan refused to step down as BCCI president. He argued that CSK was owned by India Cements, not by him personally, and that Meiyappan was not an official of the team. This position was widely criticized as untenable. The Supreme Court eventually had to intervene, asking him to step aside pending investigation.
Despite the scandal, Srinivasan was elected as ICC Chairman in June 2014, a move that astonished many observers and raised questions about cricket governance globally. The Lodha Committee subsequently recommended sweeping reforms, including that BCCI officials should have no financial interest in IPL franchises. The Supreme Court accepted these recommendations.
The Srinivasan saga exposed the nexus between cricket administration and commercial interests in India. It led to the most significant governance reforms in the history of Indian cricket, mandated by the Supreme Court, and fundamentally changed the relationship between the BCCI and the Indian government.