More trouble for Modi after Dalmiya meeting

A week after he lost the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) election to Union Cabinet Minister CP Joshi, sources in the Indian cricket board on Sunday were alleging that Lalit Modi’s days as chairman of the IPL governing council were numbered, and that a move was afoot for BCCI president Shashank Manohar to take over the role.

Top board officials, however, denied any such plan and Modi, too, rubbished the reports, saying that he had been appointed by the BCCI for five years. The trigger to this idea, sources said, was Modi’s meeting with the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Jagmohan Dalmiya, the former BCCI chief who was replaced by Union Minister Sharad Pawar in 2006 after a bitter election riddled by court battles. Modi had a big hand in Dalmiya’s fall and had figured prominently in the Pawar faction that also consisted of Manohar and current secretary N Srinivasan.

When asked about the reports, Modi said: “These are planted stories. There is no truth in the report.”

The IPL vice-chairman Niranjan Shah added: “There is no development on this front. Modi will remain the IPL chairman.”

The BCCI treasurer MP Pandove, too, denied any such move. “As of now, Modi will be there for five years. If such a major decision has to be taken it can only be done at an AGM with a two-third majority of the members,” he said.

The BCCI AGM is to be held in September next year but, if such a decision has to be taken, the can call a Special AGM with an advance notice of 21 days. Meanwhile, the BCCI working committee is to meet on December 18 while the IPL governing council has been convened a day before that. Among the decisions to be taken by the governing council is the introduction of two new teams for the 2011 season, which some sections of the Board are reportedly opposing.

In the past few months, Modi has had to deal with similar opposition from within the BCCI over IPL matters. After Srinivasan had cancelled the International Management Group’s (IMG) contract for running the IPL after two seasons, Modi had got letters from the franchisees to reverse the decision.