IPL players' auction fixed, claims TV channel

On Wednesday, news channel, CNN-IBN, claimed that the players’ auction of the Indian Premier League was fixed. The channel claimed to have accessed e-mails between former IPL commissioner, Lalit Modi, and Chennai Super Kings owner, N Srinivasan, that proved that the two colluded to help CSK bag Andrew Flintoff in the 2009 auctions.

On Wednesday, news channel, CNN-IBN, claimed that the players’ auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was fixed.

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The channel claimed to have accessed e-mails between former IPL commissioner, Lalit Modi, and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) owner, N Srinivasan, that proved that the two colluded to help CSK bag Andrew Flintoff in the 2009 auctions.

The channel asserted that two days before the 2009 IPL auction, Modi wrote to Srinivasan, assuring him that he had convinced the Rajasthan Royals and their captain Shane Warne not to bid for the England all-rounder.

Later, Flintoff was bought by the CSK for a whopping $ 1.55 million, making him the IPL's most expensive player.

The Royals, however, denied the report. “There's no truth in the report,” said a RR official. "We were never interested in splurging so much money on a single player," he said.

The fact that Royals have generally gone for lesser known players and have not splurged a big amount on any individual support their stand, but if the mails exchanged between Modi and Srinivasan are genuine, then IPL needs to brace itself for another hit to its reputation.