Tainted Indian Premier League COO Sundar Raman steps down, BCCI accepts resignation

Mumbai: Indian Premier League Chief Operating Officer Sundar Raman, who faces allegations of not acting on spot-fixing complaints during the 2013 IPL, has resigned after being virtually shown the door by the new BCCI regime as part of its clean-up operation.

It has been learnt that the BCCI President Shashank Manohar had asked Raman to step down before October 31 failing which he would have been removed at the Board's Annual General Meeting on November 9.

According to top sources, Raman met the BCCI President at Nagpur yesterday and tendered his resignation which has been accepted.

"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."

Soon after taking charge in his second stint, Manohar had expressed his displeasure over the BCCI's decision to retain Raman after his name cropped up in the spot-fixing scandal.

Raman, who had been associated with IPL since its inception, faced a lot of flak following the outbreak of the controversy, 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".

Raman was named as Individual 12 in the report. When questioned by the Mudgal panel, Raman "admitted" that he "knew" a contact of the bookie, but claimed to be "unaware of his connection with betting activities".

Mudgal report had observed that Raman's role should be further investigated.

But Shukla said there was no pressure from within 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.

Mudgal welcomed 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.

Raman is scheduled to appear before the Lodha Committee on November 15.

The petitioner in the case, Aditya Verma, also welcomed Raman's resignation and said it will help in restoring the image of the game.

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