Ravi Shastri, a former captain of the Indian cricket team, may play the role of interim CEO of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after Lalit Modi resigns or is forced to do so by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Informed sources said Shastri may hold charge till a new CEO is selected. “The new CEO’s mandate will be to run IPL in a professional way. He will be hired at an annual package of at least Rs 5 crore,” the sources said.
BCCI sources said the IPL Governing Council will meet on April 26, a day after the IPL final on Sunday, where it will ask for Modi's resignation. Modi had asked the meeting to be convened on May 1 as he needed five days to reply to the allegations made against him. "Trial by media and no chance to present the facts is like the wild West," Modi tweeted today.
TV channels ran reports based on sources that BCCI President Shashank Manohar, former president IS Bindra and Shastri are expected to be in a probe panel which will be formed to investigate the affairs of IPL.
In yet another day of intense shadow-boxing, Modi’s friends spoke and tweeted in his favour. Modi, defiant as ever, said that he will not resign. And the Central Board of Direct taxes said some of the reports on IPL investigation quoting documents stated to be “investigation reports” of the Income Tax Department were incorrect and unsubstantiated. The department is investigating only the taxation aspects of transactions relating to IPL, it added.
The sources said that Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar feels Modi should be given time for explanation, as sought by him, before any action is taken against him. Speaking to reporters after meeting Pawar today morning, Vijay Mallya, the owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore, said: "Modi is a friend of mine. He must be given some opportunity at some point of time to explain his point of view.”
Some other IPL franchise owners — Jay Mehta and Shah Rukh Khan of Kolkata Knight Riders, and Preity Zinta of Kings XI Punjab — too came out in support of Modi on Saturday. "IPL controversy: Fast, furious and too much noise, like T20 itself. (I) hope it gets resolved as fast too for our friend Modi and the franchises," tweeted Khan. Jay Mehta told a TV news channel that "Modi is the best person to take IPL forward".
Modi, on his part, tweeted: "People (are) pressurising me to resign. I can tell you (that) will not happen. Let them remove me then. What we have done has been there for all of you to see for the past four years. No one can take that away." Modi blamed the media for not verifying facts, but did not reply to either the SMS or tweet from Business Standard whether he will seek an injunction from the Bombay High Court on the Governing Council meeting slated for April 26.
Modi further tweeted that he would reveal the identity of people bringing disrepute to cricket. "Wait for IPL to finish. I will reveal the men who have tried to bring disrepute to the game, and how we stopped them from doing it."