Former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi remained unperturbed and defiant despite being banned Wednesday from all cricketing activities by the Indian cricket board and said the "ban is not going to stop me".
"Ban on me as predicted. Like I said not perturbed about it. Rather happy not to be sitting on same table as facilitators of match fixing. Only Time will show I am right. I have no reason to be remorse about this as I got to live and create my dream. Ban not going to stop me," tweeted Modi, after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to ban him for life at its Special General Meeting (SGM) in Chennai for alleged financial irregularities in IPL from 2008-10.
Modi told news channel Times Now from London that he is not going to sit quietly and watch BCCI president Narayanaswami Srinivasan destroy Indian cricket.
"To some extent, I am responsible for Srinivasan's vices but that doesn't mean I will sit back quietly and watch Srinivasan destroy Indian cricket. Yes, I made mistakes but I created the biggest brand of Indian cricket. I will bring up issues if he does anything wrong. I have learnt from my mistakes but Srinivasan is just opposite," he said.
Modi said he was also bothered about Srinivasan extending his tenure as the BCCI chief at the board's Annual General Meeting (AGM) Sunday.
"Srinivasan getting re-elected will be a major disappointment for me and for Indian cricket fans. If Indian cricket is at stake, I am ready to take on my ex-colleagues. I am, in one way, happy. Now I can openly go after them. Till now they were all colleagues and friends. The time has come to unravel everything, take everything out of the box and put everything out in the public domain. All secrets will be out sooner than later. I will continue to go after them," he said.
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Modi said he will not run away and will fight with BCCI as the target.
"I am not going to run away. I will fight them. It gives me more of a resolve to fight them. Indian cricket needs cleansing. The BCCI is going to be the target for me as far as I am concerned. I am toeing the line of what is good for the game and for the product. That's the difference between them and me. What happens is, if I don't toe their line, I am branded indisciplined," he said.
Modi said he was possibly moving on to other sports.
"I am looking at other sports. Wait and watch. I can't tell you know. You will soon hear about it. I am moving on. It is a global league and you will hear about it very soon. I have not been sitting here idle. I have lots and lots of friends around the world, administrators of various sports, who think my talent is needed. They have been working with me," he said.