IPL 2 auctions were rigged in favour of Chennai Super Kings: Lalit Modi

TNN

New Delhi, 08 Feb 2012: Indian cricket’s public image seems to be in a freefall with on-field losses, sponsor pullouts and broadcasting woes all conspiring to raise fears of the sport’s terminal decline.

 

Another round of murky allegations and denials were sparked off on Tuesday by former Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi, who told a TV channel that the 2009 IPL auctions were rigged to enable Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to retain England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.

 

Modi’s statements seemed to lend credence to Sahara boss Subrata Roy’s claim that the IPL lacked a level-playing field and rules were tweaked to favour influential teams.

 

Roy’s group recently pulled out of sponsoring the Indian cricket team and also withdrew from the IPL, in which it owned a team, following "long-term" differences with the BCCI over the IPL.

 

CSK, incidentally, is owned by Indian cricket board (BCCI) president N Srinivasan, who was quick to deny Modi’s allegations.

 

Modi, who was in charge of the IPL then, told a TV channel, "The Flintoff auction was rigged. All players were supposed to go back to the auction after the first three years but that did not happen. I was arm-twisted into allowing Flintoff to stay with the Chennai team. The retention clause was not my idea. I had created a level playing field. Modi also said he shared part of the blame. I’m to blame for that. It’s a fact. Similar problem happened with the Pakistani players. Arm-twisting happened by senior BCCI officials that nobody should pick them. The onus was on me and as chairman I should have not allowed that to happen then."

 

Modi added: "The rules have been changed to favour some powerful BCCI members. If you tweak the model along the way it’s going to fail. There is no level playing field in the IPL today. There is a lack of transparency now. Many wanted to be part of the game after it became a success."

 

Board president Srinivasan, who was BCCI secretary at that time, told news agencies there was "absolutely no truth" to Modi’s claims.

 

"All I can say is that there is absolutely no substance or truth in what he is saying. If he is talking about 2009 why is he saying all this in 2012."

 

Modi also suggested that Mumbai Indians was the other team for which rules had been tweaked and added that Sahara’s pullout both from the national team’s sponsorship and from the IPL would cost the BCCI Rs 10,000 crore. He said Pune Warriors’ withdrawal was evidence the IPL business model would not work.

 

"This model will not work. You have to keep the players in mind. There are things being done by the BCCI that in the long run will hurt Indian cricket."