Lalit Modi's future as a cricket administrator has taken a beating for sure

Lalit Modi's future in Indian cricket administration has taken a beating thanks to the Kochi Indian Premier League franchise controversy.

To many, the issue has become more compelling to follow than this year's tournament.u00a0 The Kochi Gochi has added more muscle in the arms of Indian cricket board members who get their kicks by opposing Modi.

BCCI chief Shashank Manohar wasted no time in taking exception to Modi's Twitter activities when the row over the Kochi team broke out on Tuesday.

Rocky
Modi's relationship with BCCI secretary N Srinivasan too has not been smooth. Jaywant Lele, the former BCCI secretary had no doubts that this is the beginning of the end for Modi as an important cricket administrator.

"Modi is very ambitious," stressed Lele in a tone that did not quite appear complimentary.u00a0 However, Sharad Pawar, who will soon be the big boss of the International Cricket Council could save Modi. "Whoever Pawar decides to support Board members or Modi that party will win this battle," said Lele. A decade ago, Lele's prediction of Sachin Tendulkar's Indians losing all three Tests against Australia Down Under turned out to be spot-on. He has been right at other times too during his spell in Indian cricket administration so his prediction about Modi's future has some merit. Pawar came out in support of Modi, saying there was nothing wrong in him giving out stakes of the Kochi team on Twitter.

A source told MiD DAY that there is nothing Modi does without informing Pawar and so the controversial IPL boss will always have the Maratha strongman's support.

Former BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya was non-committal when MiD DAY asked him whether this is the beginning of the end for Modi. "It is too early to say," said Dalmiya. Former Test captain Nari Contractor felt that Modi's end could well be near.

"You are not guilty unless you are proven guilty, but this may be the beginning of the end. If a proper enquiry is conducted, many things will emerge," said Contractor.u00a0
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"Everything that goes up must come down and I think Modi has gone too high," he added. He was hurt that former players were completely ignored by Modi's IPL when it came to granting them complimentary seats, which is the norm for other matches. "The departure from basic courtesy is disgusting. Does Modi want us to beg for tickets," Contractor asked.

Several in the cricketing fraternity stayed away from commenting on the Modi-related controversy. 'Out of town',u00a0 'keep me out of this,' 'let's wait for a while,' were some of the reasons given for not commenting on the issue.

Let IPL stay
One former player said he didn't have anything to say to either support or slam Modi, but he went out to bat for the IPL. "Sure, there should be a fair enquiry into team ownership and the revenue gained through the tournament but it would be a pity if the IPL is discontinued. It is a big hit with the public and the tournament has provided jobs not only for cricketers but umpires, groundsmen, media managers etc. It's good for the economy of the nation so the tournament must not be affected."

With inputs from Clayton Murzello, Sanjjeev K Samyal and Varun Singh

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