IPL II auction was rigged, claims Lalit Modi

Former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi alleged yesterday that the 2009 players' auction was "rigged" to benefit the Chennai Super Kings franchise owned by India Cements, which is headed by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president N Srinivasan.


Lalit Modi

Modi said the rules were tweaked to allow former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff remain with the Super Kings. He also accepted his fault of not going against the changes which favoured selected teams.

"The Flintoff auction was rigged. All players were supposed to go back to the auction after the first three years, but that did not happen. I was arm-twisted into allowing Flintoff to stay with the Chennai team," said Modi.

Modi said the retention clause was not his idea. "The retention clause was not my idea. I had created a level playing field," he said. Modi said the current rules favour "some powerful BCCI members" who hold a stake in the IPL teams. "The rules have been changed to favour some powerful BCCI members," he said.