President of India's cricket board faces court order to quit over fixing fears

Judge says N Srinivasan staying on 'is nauseating for cricket'

N Srinivasan has been engulfed by allegations of match-fixing in the Indian Premier League (Getty Images)

India's Supreme Court is expected to decide whether to force the suspension of the president of the country's cricket board. The repercussions could be enormous for the Indian Premier League and the International Cricket Council, while deep embarrassment awaits the England and Wales Cricket Board.

N Srinivasan was ordered two days ago to step down so that a thorough, independent investigation could be conducted into allegations of corruption in the IPL. Tonight Srinivasan was still considering his options, according to news sources in India, although Justice A K Patnaik said in a sweeping denunciation: "His staying on is nauseating for cricket."

The IPL and Srinivasan have been engulfed by match-fixing allegations since last year and this week's Supreme Court hearing was the culmination of the first stage. CSK Super Kings, owned by Srinivasan's company, India Cement, and led by M S Dhoni, India's captain, is at the centre of suspicion.

Srinivasan is due to take over as chairman of the ICC in June after he, along with Giles Clarke, chairman of the ECB, played an instrumental part in the far-reaching and controversial changes in the governing body earlier this year.

Under the changes, India, England and Australia would effectively run the ICC as a kind of benign dictatorship. The three will receive more of ICC's income in future but have promised to protect other countries' revenues.

Now that the IPL scandal has reached the Supreme Court everything could unravel. Earlier this month Dhoni took out an injunction against an Indian television station preventing it broadcasting certain allegations.

The Supreme Court judges are believed to have in their possession a sealed envelope said to contain six names of Indian international cricketers possibly connected with IPL match-fixing.