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[caption id="attachment_40533" align="aligncenter" width="580"] N Srinivasan says Chennai Super Kings will be back with a bang. Image Source: twitter[/caption] Internet Desk: Former BCCI President and owner of India Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings N Srinivasan is hopeful that Dhoni will be back with his former franchise. I an event held in Chennai on Friday, the India Cements Vice Chairman and Managing Director N Srinivasan said: "In 2018 CSK is back with a bang and hopefully, with M S Dhoni leading it. The absence from the field for two years has not affected the brand and has not in any way lessened the interest in CSK." According to Srinivasan, the franchisee’s success revolved around the leadership of MS Dhoni, who led CSK to win the cash rich event twice along with a Champions Trophy, making it one of the most successful franchises in the history of IPL. The Chennai franchise was suspended for two years from IPL by Lodha Committee in 2015, as it convicted Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of Srinivasan, as guilty of betting. Rajasthan Royals, another IPL team, was also suspended along with it. There were also allegations related to the conflict of interest of Srinivasan owning the brand while he was the head of BCCI. "The franchise was unfairly banned and while one can accuse of anybody of anything, not a single player of CSK was accused of anything. They did nothing, they just played. For the last two years, the team was not there and many people have said that they miss CSK and without the team, IPL is not the same. It is a powerful brand and a large part of it becoming a brand is of course because of the Captain M S Dhoni," said Srinivasan. The former BCCI boss once again clarified that it was the then BCCI President Sharad Pawar and IPL chairman Lalit Modi, who assured him to bid for a franchise. He was assured that there was no conflict of interest with him buying a team. “We received an invitation from the then chairman of IPL (Lalit Modi) asking whether India Cements would bid. So I took this letter and wrote to the then BCCI president Mr (Sharad) Pawar asking if we can bid since I was the BCCI treasurer and MD and promoter of India Cements. In the many controversies that surrounded CSK later, although everyone knew this story they chose to ignore it.” He added, “I get a reply from Mr Pawar, saying that ‘I have consulted all my colleagues and there is no bar on India Cements taking the tender and bidding for an IPL team’. This was in writing and following all due processes, the BCCI was asked and we went ahead.”