Lalit Modi is out.
And, judging from what Shashank Manohar had to say about Sundar Raman, the Indian Premier League CEO's head too could soon on be the chopping block.
Manohar made it clear that the blame for various misdemeanors in the IPL lies with Modi and his management; significantly, he said Modi's staff is behaving like Modi himself.
"They behaved like their superior," BCCI president Manohar said, when informed about Raman's wrongdoings.
Raman was accused of misbehaving with Sunil Walson, a member of the 1983 World Cup-winning squad, during a match in New Delhi.
Just like Modi, the IPL CEO is also accused of giving out information on Twitter instead of press statements.
Manohar said Raman is being "paid a huge salary" by the Board, but did not perform his duties as per expectations and is guilty of trying to protect his boss.
"I came here three days in advance to look into all the documents and contracts in view of the ongoing controversy. I called Sundar Raman, because on that day in the evening there was an IPL awards function. I asked for the contract of that function and I was told, 'Sir there was no contract. The contract terms were finalized yesterday night'.
"And this he informs me at 3 o' clock in the afternoon when the function is going to be held at 7 o'clock in the evening.
"Thereafter, if this issue comes before the governing council, what do you expect the governing council to do? Do you expect the governing council to say that 'no, we reject this contract and we're going to cancel this function after the function is already over'?" said the BCCI chief.
Manohar said it is wrong to blame the BCCI for not taking corrective action at the right time since professionals were appointed just for the cause.
"If you are expecting every governing council member to come here everyday morning at 10 am and leave at 10 in the night to look at what is happening everywhere then we don't need the other staff which is there. Then we don't need to pay IMG 27 crore and we don't need to have a CEO for running the IPL. It is their job to do all these things," he said.
