Undeterred by his suspension as IPL boss, a combative Lalit Modi on Monday sought to put up a brave face by maintaining that he was still the chairman of the Twenty20 league and was merely suspended for the time being.
In what appeared to be a veiled threat, Modi broke his silence since his late night suspension with yet another tweet which has been his mode of communication of late.
"Thank you all for your message of support. It is really appreciated. I am still chairman of IPL. Just suspended. Wait -- we have just begun," Modi said on his Twitter page.
Modi has not elaborated by what he meant by "wait- we have just begun" remark but it is being widely interpreted as a threat to expose his detractors.
In one of his earlier tweets, Modi had threatened to expose all the people who have tried to bring the game into disrepute.
The beleaguered Modi also sought to give the impression that he was not perturbed by the rapid developments over the last few days which culminated with his suspension barely minutes after the presentation ceremony in the IPL final.
"Had a restful day. Been in the spa all day. Much needed rest," he tweeted.
Modi's latest tweets came on a day when the BCCI President Shashank Manohar charged him with serious financial irregularities in the bid documents of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab and for rigging the IPL bids of the two new franchises -- Pune and Kochi.
The other charges included irregularities in the broadcast and internet deals and his behavioral patterns for which he has been given 15 days to respond.
Modi rejected claims of corruption in the running of the lucrative Twenty20 competition only hours after being suspended by the national cricket board and just as a governing council meeting started Monday to investigate the allegations.
"The BCCI is scared of the truth. Nothing wrong has been done," Modi was quoted as saying Monday. "Every decision was endorsed by the governing council."
"If there is any flouting of rules and any irregularities, I shall take full responsibility," PTI quoted him as saying. "I assure millions of passionate fans of the league and the game across the globe that the IPL is clean and transparent. We should not allow this brand to be diluted and we will not."
