‘Should you be ambushed by ED tomorrow’: Ex-IPL boss Lalit Modi’s explosive claim against Shashi Tharoor

Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, now based in Britain, has strongly denied allegations of bid rigging during the auction process for new Premier League teams. He revealed extensive details about the controversies surrounding the Kochi Tuskers franchise and alleged that he was pressured into signing the agreement under duress. Modi also alleged that Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had threatened him with enforcement action if he refused to approve the deal.

Modi explained that the bidding criteria for IPL teams had been revised, increasing the minimum bid price from $50 million to $300 million. “IPL has become extremely successful. We are going to bid for two teams. I just said that we are expecting a figure of close to $300 million from IPL. We don’t want anyone to bid for a team they cannot pay for. Earlier the price was $50 million. Now we expected a lot of money, $300 million. The minimum bid price was $225 million,” he said during Raj Shamani’s podcast Figuring Out.

He further explained, “If a team pays $225-300 million to BCCI, it has to spend an equal amount on players and other things. A team needed $400-500 million in free cash flow. To have that kind of playing money, a team must be worth at least a billion. That’s the clause I included in the agreement. I said you need to have a net worth of a billion to bid for IPL teams. That was my bid manipulation.”

Three entities initially submitted bids: JP Group, Adani Group and Videocon. Modi claimed that IPL was sticking to strict deadlines. “We have very strict timelines. When the bids close, the bids close. We have never extended for anyone. The bid closes at 5 p.m. We had two bids. Another bid arrives at midnight. There is a hue and cry whether we It must accept only the two bids or accept the third bid as well.”

“So I go back to the board and say we have two bids at 5 p.m. The bids don’t come to me, they go to the BCCI office. The two bidders at 5 p.m. say we shouldn’t do that if you accepts the third bid, other bidders who have not considered a bid would also like to bid.”

The first bid was for the Ahmedabad team, the second for the Pune team and the third bid was for Kochi Tuskars, which came in at midnight, he said. “If we accept the third bid, we are deviating from our rules. So either we cancel this tender without opening it, and do it again a week later. Then one problem also emerged, Sahara had written that : ‘we don’t do that’. We don’t qualify for a billion, but we qualify for $800-900 million. So I said, no problem, if the board agrees, we’ll lower it the criteria again , I said we have a no had placed criteria is not worth it – we should do at least $400-500 million The board said no.

By then, Modi said, a lot of pressure had been put on many members of the board and they said you will take the blame for this because there was a lot of star cast in this bidding too. Both or all three teams had senior stars linked to their bids. “I said, guys, bids away. New bids have to come in. Yet the base price is $225 million. We didn’t know what these three bidders were.”

Several bidders participated in the rebidding. “In the new bid, another bid from Adani Group, bid from Sahara Group and many others. Sahara won the bid with Pune for $380 million, the second highest bid was $348 million for Kochi Tukars, and the third was Adani Group’s $333 million bid,” he said, adding that he immediately signed Sahara’s bid but expressed concerns about Kochi’s bid.

“I look at the Kochi bid. I look at the 12 shareholders of the Kochi franchise. It should have been JP Group, which it was in the first round of bidding, which was a big conglomerate – all of a sudden, a week later.” later it was completely different. I look at the similarities. There were twelve members. We find a clause there that the shareholders have signed an agreement for $50 million.”

Modi said initially they had to pay $34 million to BCCI in the first year alone. And $7 million at auction. And they only had a $50 million deal. “You still have to pay the marketing costs, the operations costs – how are you going to finance this team?” he then asked and said, “That’s not going to happen.”

The former IPL boss claimed that he was then pressured into signing this deal. “Mr Tharoor is putting pressure: I have to sign the deal. So I say I will sign the deal, but let me meet all the shareholders.” He then met all the shareholders but said one person named Sunanda Pushkar was missing. According to him, in the agreement, Sunanda Pushkar had $0 in the $50 million consortium but owned 25% of the team for free. “Plus, for every dollar that comes in, she gets 15% of it.”

When Modi tried to meet Pushkar, he claimed that he received a threatening phone call from Shashi Tharoor. “Immediately I get a call from Shashi Tharoor, who said: how dare you ask about Sunanda Pushkar. I said: Shashi, what is the problem? I have a meeting, why is she not here? Tharoor said: don’t you dare to ask for Sunanda Pushkar? If you do, I will have you raided by ED tomorrow. You will be arrested by the income tax authorities and we will jail you. I said, excuse me, who do you think you are? lay put the phone down. And I said I’m not going to sign this agreement. Something’s wrong.’

Soon after, Modi said he received a call from then BCCI president Shashank Manohar, who instructed him to sign the agreement, reportedly under pressure from “10 Janpath”. Modi claimed, “He said no, you have to sign it tonight. I said, what’s the rush to sign it tonight. He said no, you have to sign it tonight… I said, if you force me to sign it , then I will sign it under force and note it on the agreement itself… as directed by the President of BCCI. I am signing this agreement and not on my own accord.”

The day after signing the agreement, Modi said he saw headlines announcing Sunanda Pushkar’s marriage to Shashi Tharoor. “Now all the pieces are starting to fall into place. And I said this won’t happen while I wait. I just tweeted: who the hell is this Sunanda Pushkar, rags to riches… billionaire… media pundit. .. .now owner of Kochi Team. There was complete chaos across the country. The Parliament was in an uproar.