IPL COO Sundar Raman quits; Better late than never, says Justice Mudgal

Mumbai: Indian Premier League (IPL) Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sundar Raman has quit from his post, putting an end to the intense speculation over his future in the wake of the change of regime in the BCCI. In an effort to clean up the system, the BCCI has promptly accepted Raman’s resignation. It has been learnt that he had been asked by BCCI President Shashank Manohar to put in his papers by 31 October. [caption id=“attachment_2359416” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Sundar Raman. Getty[/caption] “Yes he (Raman) has submitted his resignation to the BCCI President and BCCI President has accepted it,” IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla said. “No doubt he was a very competent person and looked after IPL all these years with maximum ability and command. I appreciate his contribution to the IPL and wish him best for his future.” Acccording to a top source, Raman met BCCI president Shashank Manohar in Nagpur yesterday and submitted his resignation. Soon after taking charge of his second stint, Manohar had expressed his displeasure over the BCCI’s decision to retain Raman after his name cropped up in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal. Raman, who had been associated with IPL since its inception, faced a lot of flak following the outbreak of 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal involving former Board President N Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and Rajasthan Royals’ then co-owner Raj Kundra. Despite all the controversies, Raman managed to sail through for two years. In December last year when the Supreme Court made certain parts of the Mudgal Committee report public, Raman was decreed to have been ‘in touch with a contact of a bookmaker eight times during the last IPL season’. The Mudgal Committee in its report had observed that Raman’s role should be further investigated. But Shukla said there was no pressure from inside on Raman to quit. “I don’t see any pressure. So far no report has come against him. He must have given some thought before taking this decision,” he said. Justice Mukul Mudgal, who headed the probe committee that investigated 2013 IPL betting scandal, today welcomed the Raman’s resignation. “There were allegations that incidents of betting were reported to him but action was not taken. That has been put in our report that we submitted to the court,” Justice Mudgal said. “The Hon’ble Supreme Court observed that further investigation of his role should take place.” “He should have resigned when the Supreme Court ordered investigation. These are personal decisions and one can’t impose one’s moral standards on the other. But better late than never,” he added. PTI