Addressing a press conference here, Condon, former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said there was nothing to suggest that there was any corruption in IPL 3 despite rumours.

“In IPL 3, the ACSU was heavily involved, there was an education programme, and we’ve got no current intelligence, or information, or ongoing enquiries, which suggest anything other than IPL3 was a clean event in terms of spot-fixing. It seems to have been a very clean event,” Condon told reporters at Lord’s.

“There were some rumours and vague allegations about match-fixing but no one from within the Indian board, the IPL, the franchises, journalists or players came with any specific allegations. All there has been is a generic rumour,” said Condon who would be succeeded by British police official Ronnie Flanagan from July 1.

IPL Governing Council employed ACSU only in the third edition while having some other arrangements in the first two years.

Condon said ACSU was investigating Pakistan’s tour of Australia, especially the Sydney Test in which the Asian team lost from an advantageous position.

“There has been an ongoing investigation since the time, because it is a series that worried us,” Condon said. “We spent a lot of time talking to the players and the PCB but part of the challenge is to find where the solid fact is. …We are satisfied that that was a totally dysfunctional tour from a Pakistani point of view and that dysfunctionality in the dressing room led to players not performing well and maybe making them potentially underperform deliberately. What we still need to establish is whether it was something more serious, doing it for a financial fix.”

“We are working very closely with the PCB but at the moment it is a flurry of allegations, rather than any hard fact. The investigations at the time suggested it was more about a dysfunctional team, rather than match-fixing. But it is a live inquiry,” he added.

Condon added that he was worried about the first two editions of the Indian Premier League, not because he suspected any match-fixing but because there was no infrastructure to prevent it.

“IPL 1 and 2 we were worried about, not because we think there were huge fixes, but because there was no infrastructure to prevent it,” Condon said at Lord’s on Thursday. “That doesn’t mean to say that matches were fixed in IPL 1 and 2, but nor can I, hand on heart, give it a clean bill of health. I just don’t know.”

“Our advice was, and remains, that if you are going to have world-class players, international players, who are playing in IPLs and Twenty20s, and if they do anything daft there, sadly they will take that back into the international game. You can’t be a part-time fixer, once the bad guys get into them, and a lot of them are organised criminals, then you are on the hook,” he added.

Condon said it was essential to prevent any possibility of match-fixing in leagues like the IPL to ensure the problem didn’t spread to the international arena. “To keep the game clean, we’ve got to make sure that events like the IPL and other events like it, don’t contaminate international cricket. So the same regime works for IPL: education, security managers in place.”

The five-page BCCI showcause notice made a series of serious allegations against the suspended IPL chairman, giving him 15 days to respond to charges.

BCCI secretary N Srinivasan said in a statement that the Board had issued the showcause notice after it received an e-mail from England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke.

“The BCCI has issued another showcause notice to Mr. Lalit K Modi today, based on an email received from Mr. Giles Clarke informing the President, BCCI, about the activities of Mr. Lalit K Modi, which are detrimental to Indian cricket, English cricket and World cricket at large,” Srinivasan said in a cryptic statement.

The showcause notice referred to Modi’s March 31 meeting in Delhi with representatives of English counties such as Yorkshire, Lancashire and Warwickshire in which the suspended IPL chief allegedly talked about a parallel IPL in the England and Wales in which eight existing franchises would bid for nine counties in UK.

“You have allegedly discussed this as a commercial proposition…and also set out that IPL would guaranty each county a minimum of USD 3-5 million per annum plus a staging fee of USD 1.5 million if the counties supported this idea,” the notice said. “You have allegedly offered a structured deal, by which the returns would be shared 80:20 between the franchises and the counties, a player model based on the IPL model and offered inducement to gather the rest of the county members to support your ideas and goad them to overpower their own governing bodies.”

“You have allegedly planted a seed of thought of players’ revolt if the governing bodies of respective cricket boards do not allow them to participate in this extended version of IPL,” it added.

If Clarke’s allegations are found to be true, Srinivasan said Modi’s activities would amount to a blow to “the very foundation of the way cricket is administered and played across the world”.

“It challenges not just the authority of BCCI but also (that of) ECB and suggests that IPL would henceforth literally shift to the hands of the franchises and the respective national governing bodies would be forced to watch helplessly while the game and the power of administration are hijacked,” Srinivasan said.

“Therefore after due consultation with President BCCI, this showcause notice is a being issued to you, calling upon you to give your explanation to the above grave charges within 15 days of receipt of this showcause notice, failing which it will be deemed that you have no explanation to offer,” the notice said. It comes as a huge blow for Modi, who was suspended from the Indian Premier League Commissioner’s post pending a BCCI probe into allegations of financial irregularities, nepotism and rigging bids, and the administrator has to reply to the original notice by May 10.

Raina was the third-highest run-getter in the third season of the Indian Premier League and was the Man of the Match in the final, which Chennai won. He followed that up with a 59-ball century against South Africa in St Lucia to seal India’s place in the Super Eights.

“He knew that he would be attacked with short balls and I felt he is more than equipped to deal with it,” Fleming told Daily News and Analysis. “I just had to make him realise his strengths. He went on to turn the so-called weakness into his strength. We have worked out plans on the areas where we thought he might be attacked. He tried hard at the nets with rising balls to make the right adjustments. He is a hard trier.”

The adjustments Raina has had to make have not affected his strengths, Fleming said. “That’s what good players do. Improvement in one area cannot be allowed to lead to deterioration in another area.”

Fleming credited Indian coach, Gary Kirsten, for Raina’s improvement, and said his own role had been to concentrate on the mental aspect of Raina’s game. “Suresh has been working on this with Gary Kirsten. My duty has been to facilitate and organise the facilities needed for him to work on those areas. More specifically I worked on the mental part of Suresh and his Twenty20 game. I’ve advised him on what frame of mind he should be in a Twenty20 format.”

“Success breeds confidence. The range of shots he plays is a kind of expression of himself. He is able to play them because of his newfound confidence. His level of confidence matches his abilities. He is very positive and is not afraid of playing shots. He is very hard to bowl to, I’d imagine. At this stage, Suresh is well ahead of his age in cricket. I was not even half as talented at that stage,” Fleming said.

During the hour-long meeting at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, board president Shashank Manohar explained to the 22 members of the committee just why it was important to suspend Modi from all IPL and Board posts.

“All the members agreed upon the charges against Modi,” a source told NDTV. “All the happenings leading up to the suspension were also told to the members. Manohar informed the members about several deals that Modi entered into without the IPL Governing Council’s knowledge, including the TV rights deal.”

Modi was suspended as the Chairman and Commissioner of the Indian Premier league after the grand final last Sunday because of alleged financial irregularities and rigging of bids. He was charged on five counts, including irregularities in the bids of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab and in the broadcast and internet deals, and has to file his replies within 15 days to these charges. Chirayu Amin, President of the Baroda Cricket Association and another vice-president of the BCCI, has been named the interim Chairman of the Indian Premier League.

The invalid IPL tickets issued to the Mumbai Cricket Association and charges of bypassing MCA while organising IPL matches in Mumbai were also discussed in the meeting. “From now on, all the IPL matches will have to be conducted through the host association. They cannot deal directly with the stadium authorities. Host association cannot be bypassed,” said the source.

MCA had hit out at the IPL for dealing with the match-staging authorities such as the Cricket Club of India or the D Y Patil Sports Academy for hiring their stadiums directly and not through the association. The MCA had boycotted all the home matches of Mumbai Indians held at the CCI’s Brabourne Stadium as a result.

“The issue of invalid tickets was also discussed, and from now on, 15 per cent of the tickets would be given to the host association and five per cent would be kept aside for the BCCI,” the source revealed.

Invalid tickets were allegedly handed over to the MCA members for the April 25 IPL final at the D Y Patil Stadium which led to former India player Nari Contractor being humiliated at the gate when he went to see the summit clash. Contractor and other MCA ticket holders were told by the guards manning the gate that the tickets were not valid without an accompanying badge.

While others waited and eventually got in after MCA joint Secretary Lalchand Rajput contacted IPL CEO Sundar Raman and complained about the incident, Contractor returned home in South Mumbai, about 70 kms from the venue.

Among other issues, Cricket Association of Bengal chief Jagmohan Dalmiya raised questions on the money spent in conducting the IPL. “He spoke for about half an hour and raised a lot of points on the expenditure incurred in the IPL,” the source said.

The problems faced by Rajasthan Royals owners while organising the matches in Jaipur were also discussed. Rajasthan’s team management had alleged that they were harassed by the local association, which is perceived to be anti-Modi.

Kings XI Punjab co-owners Preity Zinta and Mohit Burman were also seen at the BCCI headquarters, though the purpose of their visit was not known. Punjab’s ownership pattern is under the scanner and Manohar had said on Monday that Zinta didn’t have a single share in her name when she signed the franchise deal.

Asked about Zinta’s presence at the Board headquarters, a source said she was there to submit some documents to the IPL office. “Her presence had nothing to do with the Working Committee Meeting. She and Mohit Burman had come to submit some documents related to their bid at the IPL office,” he said.

Currently trying to retrieve documents related to IPL which have either gone missing or are with Modi, the BCCI also decided that such official papers would now be in the sole custody of the Board. “All original documents of the IPL and other deals will be kept with the BCCI in its head office,” the source said.

Ironically, the BCCI, which has been consistently talking about being transparent in its dealings, did not schedule a press conference or even send out a media release after the meeting. “There would not be a media meet and there won’t be a media release either,” said an employee of the BCCI to the waiting media persons.

There was no one to support Modi on Sunday, with Punjab Cricket Association president I S Bindra skipping the meeting and delegating the job to PCA member G S Walia. It is also understood that the matter of over-aged players taking part in Polly Umrigar Schools Cricket Tournament was raised by a member and the suggestion to scrap it would be referred to the Technical Committee headed by Sunil Gavaskar.

Modi is facing corruption charges and was served a show-cause notice by the Indian Cricket Board on April 25, the day season-III of the IPL came to an end.

“It was due to the marketing genius of a maverick – Lalit Modi – that Indian cricket finally emerged as a colossus in the international firmament in terms of reach and financial clout. Indian cricket became the epicenter of world cricket and the envy of the cricketing fraternity during this key phase,” Bindra said in a statement.

The former BCCI President clarified that he was not defending Modi, while attacking some members of the BCCI for leaking information to media.

“I would like to make it abundantly clear that I hold no brief on behalf of Mr. Modi. I am not going to prejudge the issue and in accordance with the constitutional and principles of jurisprudence enshrined in our democratic fabric. I will refuse to hold anyone guilty before giving a fair opportunity. Let us not forget that everyone is entitled to a fair trial. I can opine with conviction that part of the blame lies with our own cricketing fraternity for being an instrument in leaking all kinds of unconfirmed reports without veracity or merit,” he said.

The former BCCI President also lashed out at media, saying it ignored the other important aspects of the league and presented Modi as a villain. “The media has been ready with the guillotine to hang the hero of the IPL. He has been accused of match fixing, rigging of bids, laundering of money, and all kinds of allegations pertaining to financial irregularities and dealings based on unsubstantiated evidence,” he fumed.

There were unconfirmed reports that 27 players, including “a famous Australian”, were under investigation by Indian tax officials for match-fixing in the IPL.

Warne said he was not completely surprised by the controversy but was shocked that his name had been dragged without any substantiation.

“In the time I have played in the IPL, I have never been approached or heard anything at the Royals regarding match-fixing. I said to a couple of friends I am comfortable because I am not involved in this IPL controversy in any way, shape or form,” Warne said.

“Although, weird things can happen in Twenty20 cricket. That’s the nature of the game. I do know this: To fix a Twenty20, you would have to have the captain, otherwise you just couldn’t do it. Any players involved in this controversy, if found guilty, should be banned for life,” said the legendary leg-spinner.

“I have total confidence that no Australian is involved. It’s good to hear that the authorities have come out and said that no Australian is under investigation,” he was quoted as saying by Courier Mail.

Warne expressed his admiration for Lalit Modi for the huge success of the IPL but indirectly hinted that there was lack of transparency in running the show.

“Modi’s vision has been fantastic and he should take all the credit for the IPL, which is very much his baby,” Warne said. “But in the IPL everything must be transparent so there can’t be any innuendo.”

Hussain said that the IPL has acquired the size of a “monster” by the astounding sums of money involved and criticised its suspended commissioner Lalit Modi for trying to become bigger than the game.

“The biggest lesson cricket can learn from the allegations swirling around the Indian Premier League is that no tournament should attempt to become bigger than the game itself,” Hussain wrote in his column in Daily Mail.

“The IPL has become a monster, if you like, that the Indian powerbrokers created after the successful advent of Twenty20 cricket. There are too many IPL games, there is too much money involved and, most of all, too much self-importance about the IPL and the creator, Lalit Modi. I was concerned about the IPL from the start because, to me, the tournament was simply a money-making exercise rather than a legitimate and relevant competition. I could not see how players would have an affinity for their teams and I was concerned that Modi and the IPL were attempting to become bigger than international cricket,” he wrote.

The Indian Premier League ran into troubled waters earlier this month, following Modi’s tweets regarding the shareholding pattern of the new Kochi franchise, which eventually led to Minister of State for External Affairs, Shashi Tharror, resigning from his post.

Modi was later suspended from the IPL chief’s post and from all BCCI positions after the final of the event’s third edition last Sunday because of alleged financial irregularities in the league and rigging of bids.

The former England batsman said the cricket fanatic people of India would be deeply hurt by the alleged corruption in IPL.

Hussain said the new interim chairman of IPL, Chirayu Amin has some tough job ahead as he goes about his business to clear up the mess in the high-profile Twenty20 league.

“And while I must stress that what Modi is facing are allegations and no wrong-doing has yet been proved, it is clear that the IPL has to have a good hard look at themselves and their role in the world game,” Hussain said.

“IPL creator Lalit Modi is accused of fixing new IPL auctions, among other charges. But those Indian people who love cricket so much will be hurt by suggestions of corruption within the competition. Their pride will be suffering because they thought they had given the cricket world a well-run, very lucrative and appealing tournament. It (IPL) can still be that but whoever now takes control of the Indian Premier League must ensure that the tournament takes its rightful place in the calendar without trying to dictate terms to the rest of the world game,” Hussain said.

“And it must ensure that it is absolutely squeaky clean from the top downwards. For instance, I am absolutely astonished that the IPL has not had the ICC’s anti-corruption unit on board for the second tournament in South Africa last year,” he added.

“There is no doubt Mr Modi’s vision and drive has changed the game profoundly. Australia are committed to a 20-over event featuring eight city franchises in 2011-12. The ECB tried and failed to establish an English Premier League for 2010,” The Times newspaper said in a commentary. “Mr Modi did not invent Twenty20, but he realised its potential in a huge and growing Indian market.”

The commentary written by Richard Hobson, however, said little tears will be shed by England and Wales Cricket Board for Modi who has been suspended by the BCCI for alleged financial irregularities in running the IPL.

“Certainly no tears will have been shed inside ECB offices at Lord’s. Modi never forgave ECB chairman Giles Clarke for what he saw as attempts to belittle IPL and stymie development of Twenty20 in the vast Indian market,” said the commentary. “On his own part, Clarke believed that was undermining the English game calculatedly … they could barely tolerate being in the same room.”

According to the report, it was because of IPL that ECB made its ill-fated decision to shake hands with Allen Stanford in an attempt to offer a lucrative alternative to England players.

“Stanford’s business collapsed and IPL offered guaranteed wages — good ones — rather than prize money. The game’s star attractions, such as Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen, wanted to play IPL with the rest of the best in the world. Although IPL made many of their members rich, player associations became disillusioned at Modi’s refusal to discuss serious security concerns. And they disliked the way that he took centrestage at events, surrounded by bodyguards, as though he were a cricket superstar and not a facilitator,” the commentary said.

The commentary also touched upon ICC president elect Sharad Pawar’s reported support for Modi, saying, “Within ICC, Modi’s demise presents a potential headache. Sharad Pawar, who is due to take over from David Morgan as its president in June, is an ally of Modi. The worldwide governing body will not want Pawar tarnished by association.”

“Future editions of IPL may be run more democratically and be less commercially brazen. The show seems likely to go on, funded at levels that were unimaginable three years ago. This feels more like a reality check than a death,” the commentary said.

The Guardian in a report claimed that world cricket faced a crisis following suspension of Modi as investigation begins into allegations of sleaze and corruption in IPL that has taken the game into a land of high finance. “The ECB, among others, nervously awaits proof that the Indian board can prevent a deepening crisis,” the report said.

“The most pressing question for Modi is the whereabouts of documentation over the USD 80 million ‘facilitation fee’ said to have been paid to settle a complex legal wrangle over IPL TV rights. He must also answer charges of manipulating bidding for the IPL’s two newest franchises, in Pune and Kochi,” the report said.

Quoting an ECB official, the report said, “This has been coming for a long time. We will now see what Indian cricket is made of.”

“The IPL will continue to flourish. The success is not only because of Modi. BCCI will put up a good team to make IPL even more successful,” Shetty said on Wednesday.

The high-flying Modi was suspended as the chairman and commissioner of the league after the final on Sunday because of alleged financial irregularities and rigging of bids and was replaced by Baroda Cricket Association president, Chirayu Amin.

Modi was charged on five counts, including irregularities in the bids of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab and in the broadcast and internet deals. Modi’s removal has raised apprehensions among the existing franchises, many of whom openly backed the beleaguered former commissioner during the raging controversy.

“There is no need for the franchisees to be apprehensive. BCCI will ensure that IPL will be managed professionally. The BCCI president Shashank Manohar and interim chairman Chirayu Amin have already made it clear in this regard,” Shetty said.

The scandal has also affected the image of the BCCI to a great extent but Shetty said steps would be taken to protect the game and the Board’s reputation. “BCCI will take all steps required to protect the game and its own reputation. All these developments gave a bad name to the organisation but we will take all corrective steps,” the chief administrative officer said.

Shetty, who has been given the responsibility of investigating all the missing documents related to bids and other IPL deals, said he would write to Modi to hand over all the original documents which are with him.

“We will officially write to Modi to hand over all the original documents held by him as they are the property of BCCI,” he said.

Asked whether he felt the market value of IPL would go down due to the entire controversy and Modi’s removal, he said, “IPL is a brand of its own and it is built around the game of cricket. It will grow further.”

Shetty also vehemently denied that there was political pressure on the BCCI to take stern action against Modi after Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor’s resignation. “I can tell you that there was no political pressure on the BCCI. Not at all,” he asserted.

He also came to the defence of IPL Governing Council which failed to keep a tab on Modi’s alleged wrong-doings.

Asked how much blame the governing council should take for the entire fiasco, he said, “To be fair to the Governing Council, in most cases the papers came for ratification and Rajiv Shukla had written about this to Shashank Manohar.”

Asked about the reason behind the appointment of Chirayu Amin as the interim chairman of the league, the CAO said, “Chirayu Amin is an experienced cricket administrator, maintains a low profile and can handle the issues in IPL.”

Shetty said that Modi’s response to the show-cause notice would be placed in front of the disciplinary committee. “The reply to show-cause notice will be placed before the three-member Disciplinary Committee of BCCI,” he said. The Disciplinary Committee will then submit its report in the General Body Meeting. The committee comprises president Manohar and two vice-presidents — Amin and Arun Jaitley.

On Modi’s threat to expose some of the BCCI officials in the wake of the IPL controversy, Shetty shot back saying, “He is free to do that.” On whether he considers IPL scandal the biggest crisis in Indian cricket, he said, “It’s certainly not bigger than the match-fixing scandal.”

Amin was on Monday made the interim chairman of the cash-rich IPL after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended Modi in a midnight coup, shortly after the IPL final. Amin, in his first press conference as IPL chairman, said he has his own style of working and he would make sure that cricket affairs are managed in the most “transparent” manner.

“I have my own working style which I will evolve over a period of time quickly. You can manage a business in different styles, everyone has their own style. I believe in professional management and will have a strong team. We have IMG (International Management Group) and we are paying them a huge amount and we will restructure it (deal with IMG). Flamboyancy has nothing to do with cricket. If you provide cricket in a right format, it will flourish,” Amin quipped when asked how he would match up to Modi’s persona. “Our job is to manage the affairs of IPL in a most transparent manner and make sure we have clarity about transparency, that we take care of the interest of people who are the owners, the cricket loving people, take care of the interests of players and our stakeholders, which are our franchises.”

Amin said the cleaning process in the IPL has already started. “The job of cleaning up has already started and that will be done because it is BCCI who is responsible and they are doing the needful,” he said. “Every day the government is asking for series of documents and we are trying to provide them. I, however, have nothing to do with the cleaning up, my priority is to sail the ship and manage the interest of cricket, the players and IPL stakeholders. Let me first understand what is required to be done.”

The Baroda Cricket Association president said the recent developments will have no impact on the IPL and that the next edition will be bigger and better. “Nothing will change in IPL 4, it will go on as scheduled and it will be bigger and better. The cricket loving people of India and world won’t be disappointed, the show will go on. Cricket is the most important thing, no one can deter or stop the popularity of the game,” he said.

Amin, however, said that he will ensure that the IPL night parties, which have come under the scanner, are done away with. “I do not know about the cheerleaders but IPL nights will be stopped for sure.”

On Modi’s latest tweet which says he is still the IPL chairman, Amin said, “I don’t know what he means by saying he is the IPL chairman, just suspended. I am the chairman of IPL, it is not a question of being the full time or part time.”

Amin also added that he did not think that Modi has been made a scapegoat. “I can’t say that he has been made the scapegoat. There are lots of allegations against him and a show-cause notice has been sent to him. Let us see what he has to say.”

Amin said that he wasn’t too eager to take up the post of IPL chairman and that the job was “thrusted” on him. “It’s a tough job, I was not ready to take it, it was thrusted upon me and ultimately they prevailed over me. But now that I have accepted it, I have taken it seriously. I have never asked for anything in my life. I supported no one, I supported fair and clean administration. My job has just started and I am getting involved in it. I am sure over a period of time, I will get the details.”

Amin said the IPL brand is strong enough to come out unscathed by the recent developments. “The management of IPL is under the radar but the cricketing aspect of IPL is not under any clout. No one can touch the brand. The image is so strong that it cannot be changed,” he said.