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25 April 2024

No place for Lalit Modi in new BCCI set-up

Lalit Modi. (FILE)

Published
By Agencies

Indian cricket bosses on Wednesday replaced the suspended chief of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Lalit Modi, capping the demise of one of the game's most high-profile and controversial figures.

Modi, the brash driving force behind the money-spinning IPL, was removed as the chairman of the tournament, as vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and as head of the BCCI marketing committee.

"The present IPL governing council has been dissolved," BCCI President Shashank Manohar told a packed press conference in Mumbai after an annual general meeting. "All decisions were taken unanimously by the members.

"Modi is not part of the BCCI anymore. Now he cannot say that he is the suspended IPL chairman," he added.

The changes complete the fall of Modi from one of the most powerful world cricket figures to a tarnished outsider who is now fighting to salvage his reputation after he was suspended in April due to corruption allegations.

The new IPL boss will be Chirayu Amin, who owns the pharmaceutical company Alembic and was formerly vice-president of the BCCI, while Rajiv Shukla, a ruling-party politician and cricket insider, was named vice-president.

Amin will head an eight-member council, which no longer includes former India captain Sunil Gavaskar.

Union minister Farooq Abdullah is the new chairman of the BCCI marketing committee, which Modi headed, the BCCI said in a statement after its annual general meeting in Mumbai.

Former India captain Anil Kumble will succeed Ravi Shastri, an IPL governing council member, as the new chairman of the National Cricket Academy.

BCCI secretary N Srinivasan will take over from Shashank Manohar as the next board president.

The BCCI also unveiled Hyderabad as a test venue.

"Hyderabad will be the new test centre and has been allotted the second Test against New Zealand (in November)," read the BCCI statement.

Modi is busy battling charges of financial irregularities having denied any wrongdoing.
The moves to strip Modi of his responsibilities were slammed by his lawyer, Mehmood Abdi.
"It seems the entire BCCI is suffering from Modi-phobia. They are shutting all doors on his return," Abdi said.

The 46-year-old scion of a prominent business family, Modi was virtually unknown outside cricket circles until five years ago.

He first hit the headlines when he joined political heavyweight Sharad Pawar in an acrimonious but successful campaign to wrest control of the BCCI from long-time incumbent Jagmohan Dalmiya in 2005.

A grateful Pawar rewarded Modi by ensuring his election as the youngest vice-president of the country's richest sporting body, whose assets were then worth an estimated $50 million.

Three years later, BCCI revenues had tripled after Modi launched the glitzy IPL to counter a rebel Twenty20 league owned by the country's largest listed media house, Zee Telefilms.

Shortly after the conclusion of the third edition of the wildly popular tournament earlier this year, during which Modi partied with players and presented the winning trophy, his fortunes reversed dramatically.

He was suspended as the IPL chairman following allegations of corruption, indiscipline and money-laundering - all of which he denies.

His troubles began when he revealed the ownership details of a new franchise set to join the tournament next year.

This embarrassed a high-profile member of the government, junior foreign minister Shashi Tharoor, because Tharoor's then-girlfriend and now wife had been given a free stake in the new team.

The minister was forced to resign under pressure from the opposition, which accused him of abusing his office to secure personal gain, with the free stake seen as a possible kickback.

The government then launched an investigation into the IPL, which led to multiple charges against Modi, who continues to be investigated by a three-member disciplinary committee set up by the BCCI.

Probes into the murky world of IPL business led the BCCI to issue new notices on Wednesday to three teams.

The owners of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab were targeted for "various irregularities", while Kochi also came under the scanner.

"The new IPL Governing Council, which will hold office for one year until the next annual general meeting of the board, will be headed by Chirayu Amin. It will have five members and two former cricketers," Manohar said.

The BCCI on Wednesday dropped a case against Dalmiya in the Bombay High Court related to the alleged embezzlement of funds from the 1996 World Cup. It also withdrew his expulsion from the board.