Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, the former India captain, has admitted it would be difficult for Lalit Modi, the suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman and commissioner, to return to the helm of the Twenty20 tournament. Modi was suspended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI ) last week for alleged financial impropriety and for behaviour amounting to indiscipline.
Modi, who was given 15 days to reply to a five-point show-cause notice, is yet to respond to the charges, but Pataudi, a member of the IPL governing council, believes the charge related to Modi's behaviour would prove a stumbling block. "We are awaiting answers to several questions put to him and, yes, it would help if he answers them to everyone's satisfaction," Pataudi told The Indian Express. "But even so, coming back would be difficult as the problem with him was his style of functioning, which a lot of people had problems with."
Pataudi, who along with Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri, both former India captains, have been tasked with taking the IPL forward on the cricketing front, believes it is vital for the competition to thrive. "I personally feel the IPL is a good product and must be encouraged," he said. "All cricketers and world cricket accepts Test cricket as the purest form of the game and that it should not be allowed to die.
"But in a country where the longer format of the game gets little or no spectator support, ODIs and the IPL will have to subsidise it. If not, you are not going to see more of [Sachin] Tendulkars, [Rahul] Dravids, [Anil] Kumbles and that will be a shame." Modi, meanwhile, has deman-ded the BCCI furnish him with copies of documents based on which they have drawn up the show-cause notice. "The show-cause notice generally refers to documents, records, messages, requests etc," Modi is reported to have written in a letter to N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary. "It specifically states that it is being issued on the basis of available documents.
"With a view to ensuring that I have a fair opportunity of responding to the allegations in the show-cause notice, may I request your good self to provide me with copies of all materials which you intend to rely upon and use against me." * PA
