Former BCCI chief's daughter Rupa Gurunath elected TNCA President

Rupa Gurunath, daughter of former BCCI chief N Srinivasan, was on Thursday (September 26) elected unopposed as president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), making her the first woman to head a state unit of the Indian Board.

Rupa is the wife of Gurunath Meiyappan, who is serving a life ban for his involvement in the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal.

Rupa was elected at the TNCA’s 87th Annual General Meeting in Chennai.

As the filing of nominations came to a close on Wednesday (September 26) evening, Rupa’s was the only nomination filed for the post of president, whose election was announced on the floor of the house as per TNCA norms.

“My immediate priorities are to finalise the lease agreement with the government and opening the three stands. Of course TNCA has zero tolerance for any form of corruption and TNCA will take appropriate action on any such issues,” Rupa said after her election.

Rupa is an executive director in India Cements, her father’s company which owns the star-studded IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

She said the TNCA will continue to provide all necessary amenities to the players to perform at their best. “We shall continue to provide all necessary amenities and any other requirements for the players to perform at their best and look forward to improve their performances in all forms of cricket,” the new TNCA president said.

Also read: N Srinivasan’s daughter to become TNCA’s first woman president

“I am happy to become the first woman president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. The TNCA has been a professionally run state association, which has a long history and headed by eminent personalities,” she was quoted as saying in a release.

TNCA recently hit the headlines after unnamed officials, coaches and players in its franchise-based Tamil Nadu Premier League were accused of being involved in match-fixing. An inquiry is currently underway in the matter.

The Supreme Court had on Friday allowed the TNCA to hold elections for its office-bearers, but said the results will be subject to a final decision on the body’s compliance with Lodha reforms.

The results of elections will be subject to the order of the top court and legal remedies will be available to parties involved.

The Committee of Administrators (CoA) governing Indian cricket, in its submissions before the apex court, had complained that the TNCA did not comply with the new BCCI constitution as mandated by the top court.

List of other office-bearers:

Vice-presidents: TJ Srinivasaraj (City), Dr. P Ashok Sigamani (Districts), Secretary: RS Ramasaamy, Joint Secretary: K A Shankar, Assistant Secretary: N Venkatraman and Treasurer: J Parthasarathy.