‘I won’t quit, let them remove me’ – Modi
Even as the deliberations continue over the fate of Lalit Modis future in the Indian board The BCCIs senior most officials have spent the day in a series of meetings at their Mumbai headquarters deliberating over the future of the IPL and the fate of Lalit Modi, its commissioner. Modi, meanwhile, has sent out a strong message through his Twitter feed that he would not be backing down in what he called a “trial by media”.
“People pressurising me to resign – I can tell you will not happen. Let them remove me then,” Modi tweeted. “Truth will prevail soon. Trial by media and no chance to present the facts is like the wild west. Wait and the facts will be delivered.”
His messages came a day after the IPLs awards ceremony, where the BCCIs top two officials were missing, and a day before the tournament final. On Friday night, his speech at the awards ceremony was interpreted as a sort of farewell speech and the tone continue in Saturday's tweets. “What we have done has been there for all of you to see for the past 4 years. No one can take that away.”
His combative stance came even as his adversaries, colleagues on the BCCI's working committee, met to figure out a way out of this controversy. The IPLs governing council will meet formally on Monday morning to discuss the issue but they would like a plan in place by then.
Speculation has begun on who will replace Modi as IPL chairman, with Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president, a clear front-runner if in an overseeing capacity, and Ravi Shastri, the former India all-rounder, the outside bet for an executive role. Those familiar with the situation suggest that Manohars name will be nominated for the chairman's position as soon as a consensus is taken on Modi.
“Shashank Manohar should be the first choice,” one of the IPL governing council members told Cricinfo. “In whatever capacity he is willing to serve, he is the ideal replacement.”
Punters had already tipped Manohar as a favourite for interim chairman of the IPL as Modis grip over the IPL weakened by the minute in the last week over numerous allegations that have federal agencies like the Income-Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate investigating all aspects of the leagues operations.
Unlike the high profile that Modi has maintained, Manohar is low key, almost austere and inscrutable. A lawyer by profession, he mostly operates from his hometown of Nagpur. His biggest strengths are his simplicity and discipline – and, perhaps, his reluctance to entertain the media. “He is honest and has no allegiance to anyone else. Also his untainted image is necessary for the board at the moment,” said the source.
But not everyone is entirely sure if Manohars clean image by itself makes him a suitable choice. “A large part of working in the IPL is you are dealing with team owners who are not used to taking no for an answer,” a franchise official said. “You need somebody who is used to dealing with the corporate world. People who works for only the BCCI or for himself like Shashank Manohar, who is a lawyer, is used to diktats and not used to dealing with industry bosses. If you don't understand their problems then there will be huge differences.”
A better choice, according to the official, would be Shastri, whose cricketing background coupled with his diversified interests in the corporate field make him a good proposition. Shastri has logged in more than a decade in the corporate industry in diversified areas such as television, and event management. “The IPL sits on a huge bridge between industry and cricket. Being a man who has his own event management company, knows the showbiz, has worked on both sides, Shastri is not a bad choice. That in this case could prove to be a vital difference,” the franchise official pointed out.
via ‘I won’t quit, let them remove me’ – Modi | Cricket News | Global | Cricinfo.com.
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