Former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modihas admitted that the BCCI officials were "afraid of Subhash Chandra's clout in media and (his) ability to take over the world of cricket. Internally, we knew he would do a better job".So, was this the reason why Sharad Pawar, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), kept mum after Subhash Chandra warned him 16 days before launching his Indian Cricket League (ICL) on April 3, 2007?
Chandra first gave an oral warning to Pawar on March 18, 2007, and then minutes before he announced the unauthorised T20 tournament in New Delhi he faxed a three-page letter to him, giving reasons of his doing so.
A copy of the letter is with MAIL TODAY. So, the BCCI was well aware of what was cooking in the Chandra-owned Zee stable. And to counter the ICL threat, Modi, with Pawar's well-known patronage, worked overtime to give shape and context to the IPL, which was initially supposed to be a One-day inter-city tournament.
All along, Modi was part of the BCCI think-tank that was out to counter the ICL, which Chandra termed as an "innovative laboratory" off the "established managed cricket field".
So, why is Modi now revealing that the BCCI got the International Cricket Council (ICC) constitution changed to force the boards of other countries to outlaw the ICL?
Is he trying to send some signals to the Chandra camp? Or is it the beginning of another unauthorised tournament that we may hear about soon? It may be or it may not be.
It is interesting to recall that Modi had launched a company called the Indian Cricket League. He even threatened to sue Zee's Essel Group for hijacking the name, but never did after the IPL became a grand success. Why?
BCCI vs Lalit Modi
Meanwhile, BCCI president Shashank Manohar rejected Modi's latest tirade against the BCCI. "I don't want to react at all to Mr Modi. Modi seems to fascinate the media. He does not fascinate me," he said Nagpur.
Modi, who was sacked as IPL chairman for alleged financial irregularities in April last year, tweeted that the BCCI forced the ICC to change its constitution to outlaw the now defunct unauthorised Indian Cricket League, floated by Zee's Essel Sports Pvt. Ltd.
ICL owners Essel await full disclosure
Meanwhile, an Essel official said in Mumbai he would wait for further revelations from Modi on how the BCCI scuttled the ICL before announcing their next move.
"Essel Sports Pvt. Ltd. has received lot of queries on the recent disclosures made by a former member of the BCCI, openly admitting to having initiated various actions against the ICL operations," Himanshu Mody, head, group finance and strategy of Essel Group, said in a statement
