“He would tell he would change the umpire” – Lalit Modi accuses N Srinivasan of using Chennai umpires for CSK games in IPL

Former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi has accused former BCCI secretary N Srinivasan of using Chennai umpires for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) games in the T20 league. He alleged that the former ICC chairman didn’t like the concept of IPL and went against him when he tried to expose the umpiring fiasco.

Modi also claimed that Srinivasan fixed bidding for England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, including other malpractices in the T20 league. He said in a video doing the rounds on X:

“He [N Srinivasan] didn’t like IPL; he didn’t think IPL will work but when it started to work everybody got the bandwagon. He was 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’.

" I accused him for it. He would tell he would change the umpire and I didn’t think two things about it. But then I realized he is putting Chennai umpire in my game, it’s an issue for me. That’s called fixing so when I tried to expose those, he went totally against me.”

He added:

“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.

"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, what is bigger for the game. Every player is only for three months."

Lalit Modi’s allegations against Srinivasan date back to 2012 when he claimed the latter fixed Flintoff’s auction in 2009. He also supported Aditya Verma, Secretary of Cricket Association of Bihar, who was fighting a separate court case against Srinivasan.

Srinivasan served as BCCI secretary from 2008 to 2011. He was then appointed the BCCI president from 2011 to 2013. The 79-year-old also served as ICC chairman from 2014 to 2015. His company India Cements owns the CSK franchise.

Notably, CSK won the IPL in 2010 and 2011, while also reaching the final of the inaugural edition in 2008.

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Who is Lalit Modi?

Lalit Modi is a former IPL chairman who served in the position from 2008 and 2010. The 60-year-old was instrumental in launching the 20-over tournament. He ensured the smooth conduct of IPL 2009 in South Africa after India's general election voting dates collided with the league's schedule.

He was expelled from the BCCI before the 2010 final on 22 charges, including betting, money laundering, and selling franchises to family members. This came after the now-defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala team representative complained to BCCI that Lalit threatened them to leave the franchise.