Board of Control for Cricket in India president Shashank Manohar broke his silence on Saturday to strike back at suspended Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi, accusing him of “tarnishing” the image of the board.
Manohar clarified that interim IPL chairman Chirayu Amin was part of a failed bid for the Pune franchise adding that it was Modi who had advised the consortium to rope in Amin as an investor. Amin had agreed to come in only if the bid succeeded and that he had sought the board’s permission as well.
“The truth is that it was Modi himself who sent a message to the Pune franchisees through Ajay Shirke, president of MCA (Maharshtra Cricket Association), asking them to contact Amin and persuade him to be a part of the consortium,” Manohar said on Saturday.
The BCCI president also claimed that contrary to Modi’s assertions, the IPL governing council did not know that City Corporation’s Aniruddha Deshpande bid for the Pune team in his ‘individual capacity’.
“In his letter he clearly states that should City Corporation Ltd win the bid, he would then formally approach the board for a sanction to invest in the consortium. The letter itself makes it very clear that it was a proposal with a pre-condition attached that Amin would seek a formal sanction only in case the bid succeeds,” he said.