IPL expected to dominate BCCI working committee meet in Mumbai

The focus would be firmly on the alleged financial irregularities committed by suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi when the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) all-powerful working committee meets in Mumbai tomorrow.

BCCI president Shashank Manohar would brief thecommittee members about the various issues surrounding IPL, which is under the income tax and Enforcement Directorate's scanner for alleged violations of various laws, but there would not be any
discussion of these at the sitting, BCCI sources insisted.

"The board president would inform the members of the working committee the happenings in the IPL and why Modi needed to be suspended, but there would not be any discussions," the sources told PTI.

The high-flying Modi was suspended as the chairman and commissioner of the league after the final of the event on Sunday because of alleged financial irregularities and rigging of bids.

Modi was charged on five counts, including irregularities in the bids of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab and in the broadcast and Internet deals, and has to file his replies within 15 days to these charges.

He has been replaced at the helm in the interim by Chirayu Amin, another vice-president of the BCCI who would also be attending the meeting. Among the committee members, 22 in number with Modi not allowed to attend the meeting following his suspension, Punjab Cricket Association chief Inderjit Singh Bindra is again expected to bat for him at the meeting.

Some fireworks are expected, especially with Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) vice-president Dilip Vengsarkar, set to attend the meeting in place of president Sharad Pawar.

The former India skipper had openly held the entire IPL governing council, and not Modi alone, responsible for the fiasco at a media conference recently.

MCA has also hit out at the IPL for dealing with the match-staging authorities like the Cricket Club of India (CCI) or the D Y Patil Sports Academy for hiring their stadiums directly and not through the association which boycotted all home matches of Mumbai Indians held at the CCI's Brabourne Stadium.

The meet would also ratify of all the decisions taken by the BCCI's various sub-committees since its last meeting in December, according to the sources. The matter of invalid tickets, allegedly handed over to the MCA members to attend the April 25 IPL final at the D Y Patil Stadium which led to former India captain Nari Contractor being humiliated at the gate when he went to see the summit clash, is also expected to crop up at the meet.

Contractor and other MCA ticket holders were told by the guards manning the gate at the Navi Mumbai stadium that the tickets were not valid without an accompanying badge.

While others waited and eventually got in after MCA joint secretary and former India Test opener Lalchand Rajput contacted IPL CEO Sundar Raman and complained about the incident, Contractor simply turned on his heels and returned to his home in South Mumbai, about 70km from the venue.

He has raised the bigger issue of how "fake tickets" had been issued to MCA by IPL authorities and Raman, already facing the music for the IPL fiasco, could face further flak.

BCCI chief administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty has said steps would be taken to protect the game and the board's reputation in the wake of the IPL scandal.

"BCCI will take all steps required to protect the game and its own reputation. All these developments gave a bad name to the organisation, but we will take all corrective steps," Shetty told PTI a few days ago.