Former BCCI President N Srinivasan is back in the corridor of the board’s power after years of turmoil which included interrogation against his IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK), or corruption charges against his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan.

Recently he talked about how he weathered the storm only because he didn’t buckle under the pressure. "Cricket was supposed to be a gentleman's game. But the way the onslaught on CSK and me happened, there was only one thread in common: attack Srinivasan. The attack was severe and pointed. We were put under the gun. There was also this one occasion when a senior police officer contacted me and passed on the message from some other authorities: "Ask Srinivasan to step down (as BCCI president) and nothing will happen". But then we chose to resist. It was a natural instinct of mine that I would never buckle down to this pressure tactic," Srinivasan said.

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Srinivasan, vice-chairman and managing director were delivering the 37th Endowment Lecture on "Leadership in turbulent times" at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras campus.

He lauded the way Dhoni and CSK came back stronger after the two-year ban and won the title in 2018 and reached the finals in 2019 edition. "Turbulence can hit anybody. But Dhoni and CSK dealt with it on merit and with cold-blooded focus and it took us to victory. We have always owned the franchise and not the players. That's why the players respect us and want to give everything for us on the ground," Srinivasan said.

(Times of India inputs)