Lalit Modi, the former chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL), has made serious allegations against N Srinivasan, the former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Modi accused Srinivasan of fixing umpires and manipulating player auctions to benefit his team, Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Lalit Modi’s allegation against N Srinivasan
Speaking to Raj Shamani on his YouTube show ‘Figuring Out,’ Modi claimed that Srinivasan would appoint Chennai-based umpires for CSK matches, which he considered a form of match-fixing.
“He (N Srinivasan) didn’t like IPL; he didn’t think IPL would work but when it started to work everybody got the bandwagon. He was a member and secretary of the board also so he was the biggest adversary of mine. I went up against him, so he did many things, umpire fixing, he said, ‘I did it’, Lalit said.
“I accused him of it. He would change the umpire and I didn’t think two things about it. But then I realized he is putting Chennai umpire in Chennai games, it’s an issue for me. That’s called fixing so when I tried to expose those, he went totally against me,” Lalit Modi added.
The conspiracy behind bidding Flintoff
He also alleged that Srinivasan manipulated the IPL auction to ensure that CSK acquired England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff in 2009. According to Modi, other teams were instructed not to bid for Flintoff, allowing CSK to secure him without competition.
“Take out everything auction ringing, this ringing, I gave Flintoff to Srinivasan. Yes, we did. No doubt about it, every team knew about it. Srinivasan wasn’t going to let IPL happen. He was a thorn in our bush. Yes, we told everybody not to bid for [Andrew] Flintoff,” he said.
“Yes, that I did because Srinivasan said I want Flintoff. But when you are trying to do an event like IPL and I did it single-handedly, you need to remove every thorn, that is bigger for the game. Every player is only for three months,” Modi added.
These explosive claims have reignited debates about the integrity of the IPL and the credibility of CSK’s achievements. Srinivasan has not yet publicly responded to these allegations.
CSK’s toil in Spot Fixing Scandal
The Chennai Super Kings were embroiled in a significant spot-fixing incident in 2013, which led to the arrest of Gurunath Meiyappan, a senior franchise executive and Srinivasan’s son-in-law, on suspicion of fraud, forgery, and cheating. Actor Virender “Vindoo” Dara Singh, who was also arrested for allegedly communicating with bookies, was in continuous telephone touch with Gurunath, according to the police inquiry. During IPL games, Vindoo was also regularly seen in the CSK box.
In addition to suspending India Cements and Jaipur IPL, the owners of the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals clubs, for two years, the RM Lodha committee eventually banned Meiyappan for life from participating in any cricket matches. As a result, CSK skipped the 2016 and 2017 IPL seasons.
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