| The National

The start of the Indian Premier League in the UAE next month will proceed as planned next month with all eight teams competing.

The Supreme Court of India had announced on Thursday that Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals would be suspended from the competition while a corruption investigation continued.

But the court softened that stance on Friday, with Justice AK Patnaik saying: “This judgment is for cricket lovers, we do not want to suspend any team or player before the IPL.”

However, the court did order that N Srinivasan, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, step aside from his role while the investigation goes on.

Sunil Gavaskar, the former Test cricketer, will temporarily replace Srinivasan, while all other BCCI duties will be handled by former test cricketer Shivlal Yadav, a senior vice president of the BCCI.

Srinivasan’s position on the BCCI has been considered untenable since a three-member committee, headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal, found Chennai Super Kings team principal Meiyappan guilty of being in contact with illegal bookmakers in its report forwarded to the Supreme Court.

Srinivasan said that Meiyappan was “just a cricket enthusiast” even though he was seen regularly at players’ auctions and in the team dugout.

Meiyappan spent two weeks in jail last year before being granted bail.

The scandal furthered when former Test bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and two other Indian cricketers, all playing for the Rajasthan Royals, were arrested on suspicion of taking money to concede a fixed number of runs.

Sreesanth, who had denied any wrongdoing, was subsequently banned for life by the BCCI.

The Supreme Court has set April 16 as the next date for hearing in the case.

Sunil Gavaskar to take over as BCCI president on a temporary basis after N Srinivasan ordered to stand down by the Supreme Court of India.