Lalit Modi row: Can we talk about corruption in cricket now?

A week ago Sports Illustrated India unflinchingly allowed me to follow Lalit Modi to London and to try making sense of what the man in the eye of the storm calls, "the biggest reality show in history". Before I arrived here I questioned whether Modi would be the tipping point of a global capitalist reformation. I thought not, given that Modi's position was based on the system itself. But in a week I have become stupidly hopeful. You and I might see Modi's stay in London as a luxurious escape. To him it felt like over four years of exclusion and incarceration that wasn't based on a shred of pure evidence. And then he found a platform to fight back.

Over the week I have met Modi several times in an ongoing attempt to see this to its logical conclusion. I had some straight questions. They all began with "surely". "Surely, Modi, you have an endgame in mind," was one of the first. "What endgame?" came the immediate response. "I didn't start this, but it's time other people started giving some answers too. It will end where it ends."

So far, the story has shown no signs of abating. Modi is targeting the entire establishment - politicians across party lines, business houses, government officers, cricket administrators and, perhaps with deliberate venom, the media. The final picture will take a long time coming. And it will take my tiny brain a lot more than a week to get to grips with it. But here is what we all know. In India, cricket and politics have so seamlessly merged with Big Business that the resultant monster eats whatever lies in its path. Modi knows this all too well. He had a massive role to play in the creation of the monster, after all. He was among the first to view Indian cricket as a commodity that could be sold; he helped the BCCI make hundreds of millions of dollars by hard-selling the sport to TV first, and then, through the IPL, to the world. And they loved him for it. And then they didn't need him anymore.

It all began with cricket, and therefore, it stands to reason that we bring the conversation back to the sport. If only for a little while. Modi's revelations over the past couple of days have thrown up some serious accountability issues in the BCCI. Serious enough, in my opinion, for a court back home to act of its own accord and demand a thorough, unbiased and transparent inquiry. In its judgement reinstating Modi's passport the high court quashed the government's argument that one of the reasons for its revocation was public interest. Many would concur that Modi's passport is not a matter of public interest. What a billion or so will also concur with is that the running of the only sport in our country most certainly is. So let's bring the conversation back on point, shall we?

Not every allegation made by every individual needs to be the subject of a state investigation. But in the past two weeks we have been given no reason to believe that any document released by Modi is a fabrication. Many are in support of his own position. Some have nothing to do with him at all. But that is for the proper authorities to examine. Lord knows it can't be left to the investigative skills of us journalists. All we have is, hopefully, balance and a little bit of perspective. Here's mine. You be the judge(s).

As an organisation, the BCCI doesn't like the idea of being open to the press. There is a deep-seated desire to not just control the narrative, but to ensure there is no parallel point of view. Cricket writers will know a little bit of what I'm referring to. These are a couple of email examples from Modi's #LalitLeaks war chest; The first is a minor example of the heavy-handedness and opacity of the board. It appears to have been by N Srinivasan (the BCCI secretary) to his president, Shashank Manohar. It pertains to Gary Kirsten, then India coach. Kirsten is not someone who is keen to be in the news. He likes to keep a low profile and do his job. But, he did give the odd interview, including a superb one to Anand Vasu in Sports Illustrated. He seemed to be replying to requests from the media by saying that if they could get permission from the BCCI, he would do the interview. This seemed to have irked Srinivasan. The mails ends with, "I seek your consent to inform Gary Kirsten to concentrate on his coaching assignment and not become a media personality." This was to a man MS Dhoni would describe, a few months later, as, "the best thing to happen to Indian cricket."

The more interesting email is the second, also between the same two individuals. The email goes into details about Modi's media-friendly behaviour and says there is no need for, "Lalit to act as if he is bigger than the BCCI president." The mail goes on to say, "As it is many members of the BCCI feel that we are giving too much importance to Lalit… I am a tolerant person but I am now starting to get little irritated by his public posturing." So far so good. All this goes to show is that Modi was ruffling feathers in the BCCI and that there were people who didn't like him. It is an ego issue. But here is the bit that stands out. "There is no need to highlight the financial success of the IPL. His constant TV announcements on the money that we are making will definitely result in BCCI being taxed sooner or later." To a layman unfamiliar with the law, this seems to be a pretty clear admission that there are grounds for the BCCI to pay tax and that the BCCI wilfully attempted to hide its incomes. Now that the entire country knows how Lalit Modi talks, on or off the record, and the freedom with which he shares information, it seems like keeping him off the air was a good idea for the BCCI.

This theme is revisited in a different email dated January 25 from Srinivasan to Arun Jaitley (the present finance minister) in the latter's capacity as BCCI vice president. Also marked on the mail is a gentleman who is currently (at least as of May 18, 2015) on Jaitley's personal staff in the finance ministry.

The mail voices the BCCI's strong objection to the Sports Bill then being drafted by sports minister Ajay Maken. The board has also stood firmly against its activities being put under the purview of the Right to Information Act. When we were discussing the reasons behind this, Modi mentioned, just as a tip of the iceberg, the travel and daily allowance of members of the board and, consequently, the members of the state boards. "I was one of two or three people on the board who did not collect any of these allowances, which is why I have no problem with them being out in the public domain," he said. "There are many who travel for meeting on the funds of the other offices they hold, or on private jets owned by their friends, and then claim lakhs of rupees as reimbursement and allowances for attending BCCI meetings. It's all in cash, so it's not accounted for," is Modi's allegation. He went on to say that at state level meetings were held only on paper. "Hundreds of work days were shown for several committees that existed and functioned only on paper, and cricket money was paid to the 'attendees'." Modi has not furnished proof of these allegations. But there must be records of all of these meeting and, if the extent of the allegations is true, even a cursory examination by an independent auditor will reveal the truth.

The final piece of the incomplete puzzle (with Lalit Modi the one thing we know is that the picture will keep changing), is the bit about players being paid. This latest mail was, in a strange twist, released not by Modi, but by an unknown Twitter user. The mail is from Modi to Dave Richardson, the former South Africa wicketkeeper and current CEO of the ICC. In the mail, which has been acknowledged by both Modi and the ICC, three players are named. By now anyone reading this piece will know who they are. All three play for the same franchise. And there is no prize for guess the franchise either. Modi's mail says the players were close to a known high roller in the cricket betting scene and had received payments of Rs 20 crore each, either in cash or kind. Modi does not say what these payments were for or disclose what evidence he has of the payments being made. (The ICC has responded by releasing a statement saying it conducted an investigation, which is now closed. Since the players are still playing, we can only assume there was no evidence of wrong-doing.)

Coincidentally, the ICC's annual conference concluded in Barbados on June 26 and the council released a lengthy press note wherein a significant section was devoted to the integrity of the game. The recommendations of its Integrity Working Party that have been adopted include:

Affirmation of the ACU's (anti corruption unit) accountability for all international cricket with the ACU also serving as the central coordinator for multi-jurisdictional cases; and

A requirement for all ICC full member countries and associate members with ODI and T20I status to review their anti-corruption resources to ensure they effectively protect domestic cricket;

So while this particular case might involve players who have played international cricket, it still pertains to the IPL, which is a domestic tournament that does not even have a full window in the ICC's calendar. Meanwhile, in a press conference attended by my colleague yesterday, all Anurag Thakur of the BCCI had to say on the subject was that the matter was handed over to the ICC's ACU because it involved international cricketers. This entire premise is false. For the BCCI to pass the buck on to the ICC is a clear indication of how seriously it takes these matters. And that lack of seriousness bodes ill for the sport.

These are just a few of the newer stories that have come to light in Modi's recent Twitter onslaught. There are several others that are equally damning of the BCCI's modus operandi.

You might ask, "What new story is this fellow bringing?" To which I will quote the only poet I know and say, "The entertainment for this evening is not new. You have seen this entertainment through and through." The integrity of cricket has been in question for longer than most of us care to remember. There is nothing that can be added to the story by armchair bandits such as I. But what Lalit Modi has done is provide us an opportunity, as a nation, to push for change. The BCCI is not an institution enshrined by the mythical powers of either the epics or the Constitution. It is a non-profit organisation that works in the public interest. Now if representatives of some non-profits can have their bank accounts frozen, other have their passports revoked and others still be barred from taking flights just because the government so decrees, surely this greatest non-profit of them all can be asked a few friendly questions? Surely.

If any good can come of the relentless controversy that stemmed from a non-issue then let it be that these questions won't be easily forgotten. Surely.