Former IPL founder and first chairman Lalit Modi shocked everyone when he posted on X, sparking controversy over allegations of blackmail and corruption involving an IPL cricketer and a senior cricket board official. According to reports, an IPL cricketer was asked to pay a certain commission in exchange for some amount of money for getting an IPL contract. When the cricketer denied having performed such an activity, a senior cricket board member began blackmailing him.

Reacting to a report posted by cricblogger, Lalit Modi revealed something more shocking. He posted on his X handle, “Just learnt from my many sources - the man is shockingly Rajeev Shukla's secretary - this needs to be seriously looked into. How low can people go?”

This revelation instantly sparked more controversies and went viral on social media. He also posted pictures of Rajiv Shukla with a caption, “When power plays on innocence, silence becomes complicity” with a hashtag #cricketnot corruption.

“Cricket belongs to fans, players and the truth”, said IPL Founder Lalit Modi

Controversies related to cricket and cricketers are nothing new; ticket debacles to match fixing and player lobbies are not new concepts in cricket. Recently, when the ticket black market issue surfaced in Chinnaswamy stadium, Lalit Modi was one of the first individuals to rise against such act. Tis time too when the cricketer blackmailing controversy came up, he didn’t think twice to share his verdict. He said that he invented IPL to let young talents get the limelight on the global stage and not for money-mongering, power-greedy officials, for their greed.

Also Read | Kevin Pietersen urges Virat Kohli fans to ‘enjoy’ cricketer’s game while ‘it lasts’

“I founded the IPL to give young talent a global stage — not to let powerful officials turn dreams into weapons of control. When allegations of blackmail, extortion and exploitation of young players surface, silence is not neutrality — it is complicity.

Cricket belongs to the players, the fans and the truth. Not to those who hide behind chairs, titles and political protection. Clean up the game. Protect the boys. Expose the rot.” Lalit Modi said in his X post.

CricBlogger also alleged that this is not the first instance of players being asked financially for opportunities in professional cricket. But the involvement of a senior official from the board makes the controversy more complex.