Chennai, May 23: Gurunath Meiyappan’s Twitter account @gurunath75 describes him thus: Team Principal Chennai Super Kings, Managing Director AVM and Entertainment, AVM Studios, AVM Constructions.

What it does not say is that the 36-year-old is the son-in-law of India’s cricket chief N. Srinivasan, a relationship that allowed him to become the Chennai Super Kings’ chief executive officer in 2008.

When Srinivasan became president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, he needed someone trustworthy to take on the management of the Chennai team, which had emerged as the most powerful among all the IPL franchises.

Srinivasan was already embroiled in court cases that challenged his ownership of the Super Kings while remaining the cricket board treasurer. He did not want to be the face of the IPL team any longer while heading the world’s most powerful national cricket body.

Gurunath was the automatic choice since he was family and had a keen interest in golf and motor sports. It was on the golf courses of Chennai that Gurunath had courted Srinivasan’s daughter Rupa before they married with the blessings of their families.

Besides, Gurunath had imbibed managerial skills from his family, the powerful AVM dynasty that owns one of south India’s oldest and biggest television and film production houses.

Since Srinivasan’s only son Ashwin had been ostracised by his family after he proclaimed himself to be gay, Gurunath’s elevation was only a matter of time. The stewardship of the Super Kings proved the ideal setting for him to cut his teeth in sports administration and team management.

Sources in AVM said Vindoo, the son of wrestler Dara Singh, who has been arrested on the charge of facilitating IPL betting and spot-fixing, was a close friend of Gurunath thanks to their film connections.

“Dara Singh used to be a family friend of the AVM brothers and the same friendship continued between Vindoo and Guru,” an AVM manager said.

Given the frosty relationship between Jayalalithaa and Srinivasan, Gurunath could be in a spot of bother if the state police find any link between the arrested bookies and him.

Thanks to Srinivasan’s perceived proximity to the Opposition DMK, the state government had placed many obstacles in the way of keeping the Chepauk stadium open for IPL matches,

“So far, only the Mumbai police are probing the link between Vindoo and Gurunath. They have not sought our help till now,” a police officer in Chennai said.