Amin appointed interim head of IPL

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has appointed Chirayu Amin as interim chairman of the Indian Premier League.

Amin is a vice-president of the BCCI as well the president of the Baroda Cricket Association, and was appointed by unanimous decision at a governing council meeting in Mumbai today.

The news came just hours after BCCI president Shashank Manohar announced the suspension of former IPL commissioner and chairman Lalit Modi, who stands accused of a range of alleged misdemeanours from rigging financial bids to betting and bribery.

Modi was ousted immediately after the conclusion of the final of the third edition of the tournament in Mumbai yesterday.

"The IPL is a great property and commercial aspects in certain events is an important thing," Manohar said. "However, ethics and transparency is more important.

"In the last 15 days there have been a lot of allegations and counter allegations made in the media as a result of which the board has looked into the allegations which were levelled.

"It took a decision to issue a show-cause notice to Mr Lalit Modi and, pending inquiry, decided to suspend him.

"In today's meeting, the members unanimously appointed Mr Chirayu Amin as the interim chairman of the IPL.

"We have also asked Prof Ratnakar Shetty (chief administrative officer), to look into all the records because many of the documents are missing from the offices of the IPL and the board.

"Everyday the Income Tax department is asking for documents but we don't have them in our custody.

"Therefore Prof Shetty will look into all these aspects in connection with the documents."

Modi had at first refused to attend the governing council meeting, calling it illegal and unauthorised as only he, as IPL chairman, had the powers to convene the council.

He had also accused the members of the BCCI of attempting to pressure him into resigning.

However, in a complete turnaround yesterday, Modi not only decided to attend the meeting, but also sought to chair the gathering, a decision which prompted the BCCI to issue the suspension and show-cause notice.

Modi has been given 15 days to respond to the show-cause notice and Manohar indicated the charges against Modi would be dropped if he is able to clear the charges levelled against him.

"As the tournament was on, we did not want it to be disrupted and so the show-cause notice was sent only after the presentation ceremony was over," he said.

"The board will hold an inquiry in the matter after receiving a reply from Mr Modi if necessary or if the reply of Mr Modi convinces the members the proceedings would be dropped."

Manohar maintained the members of the governing council were unaware of the decisions taken by Modi, although the former chairman has refuted those allegations.

Manohar also revealed the governing council had appointed Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar and MAK Pataudi to discuss the possibility of limiting the number of foreign players in the league from next year.

"After discussing the issue with the franchisees, they have been asked to report to the board so a final decision can be taken in that regard," he said.

"The governing council would meet again in June and take stock of the situation after all the preliminary work is done."

The Board's working committee is, however, scheduled to meet on May 2 where the decisions made today are expected to be ratified.

In his address at the end of the IPL final in Mumbai yesterday Modi said: "Though the events on the ground have been an outstanding success, there have been some off-field unpleasant dramas based on the unknown, half-truths and motivated leaks from all sorts of sources.

"I assure you all decisions have been jointly taken by the governing council and approved by the general body (of the BCCI) in both year one and two of the IPL.

"Still as leader of the team, I reassure you that if there have been any flouting of the rules and regulations or if there have been any irregularities, I shall take full responsibility.

"I assure you the IPL is clean and transparent."