Fear of BCCI backlash, ECB turns down Lalit Modi offer to buy "The Hundred": Reports
London: Unwilling to jeopardise its cordial relationship with the all-powerful BCCI, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has rejected a lucrative 10-year buy-out offer of their franchise-based property 'The Hundred' from former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Modi received a life ban from the BCCI in 2013 for "serious misconduct and indiscipline" related to bids for two new IPL franchises in 2010. Modi left India and has been living in London since then.
Modi had planned the competition in peak English summer between July 1-August 15.
"Modi's representatives met with Vikram Banerjee, the England and Wales Cricket Board's director of operations, who is de facto head of the Hundred, and chief executive Richard Gould to lay out a 10-year offer to buy the Hundred and fund it through private investment. However, the ECB will not be pursuing talks with Modi," the British daily reported.
The ECB isn't ready to completely let go its ownership on their flagship property but also at the same time is worried about potential pitfalls of a partnership as "dealing with Modi would jeopardise its relationship with the BCCI."
It must be noted that the ECB had received a similar offer from the Bridgepoint Group worth GBP 400 million for a 75 per cent stake in 'The Hundred'.
"At the time, Richard Thompson, the ECB's chairman, said he would only consider offers of a "few billion" and since then the ECB has pursued a strategy of selling equity in the teams, with the board retaining ownership of the competition," the newspaper further reported.
Modi told Telegraph Sport that "he has lined up investors willing to pump money into a 10-team tournament but told the ECB the Hundred format does not work and should be converted into a Twenty20 competition instead."
The team purse as per offer sheet would have been USD 10 million per season (roughly INR 83 crore to IPL's INR 95 Cr).
Modi's estimated valuation of the competition was earmarked at USD 100 million a year over 10 years.
In fact, the former IPL czar had advised ECB not to invite more than two IPL franchises to own teams.
His mantra was "franchises should be English owned and English run with minimal input from India."
Modi had been in touch with English cricket establishment for the past 18 months and wanted to make it second biggest league after IPL.
"I would give them a guarantee of a billion dollars," Modi told Telegraph Sport.
"A lot of people have been in touch with me interested in backing it and I made a proposal to the ECB but it had a lot of conditions. The Hundred format does not work and there should only be two franchises sold to Indian buyers. It will only work if it is an English competition and not Indo-centric," he said.
The ECB believes it can raise GBP 100 million from selling equity (shares).
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Tribal man brings dead sister's skeleton to bank to withdraw money from her account
Keonjhar (PTI): A tribal man in Odisha's Keonjhar district on Monday brought the skeleton of his dead sister to a bank to withdraw the money deposited in her name, police said.
The incident occurred at Maliposi branch of Odisha Grameen Bank located at Patana block of Keonjhar district. The man was identified as Jeetu Munda (50) of Dianali village. He was seeking to withdraw Rs 20,000 from the bank account of his elder sister, Kalra Munda (56), who died on January 26, 2026.
"I have run several times to the bank, and the people there told me to bring the account holder to withdraw money deposited in her name. Though I told them that she had died, they did not listen to me and insisted on bringing her to the bank. Therefore, out of frustration, I dug the grave and brought out her skeleton as proof of her death," an illiterate Jeetu Munda told reporters.
Patana Police Station Inspector in charge (IIC) Kiran Prasad Sahu, who reached the bank after getting information, said, "Jeetu is an illiterate tribal man. He does not know what the legal heir or nominee is. The bank officials have failed to make him understand the procedure to withdraw money from the dead person's account."
However, after the incident, the police assured Jeetu Munda that they would facilitate the withdrawal of money from the bank account of his dead sister. Later, the skeleton was again buried at the graveyard in presence of police.
Meanwhile, local Block Development Officer (BDO) Manas Dandpat said that he was not approached by anyone for the legal heir of late Kalra Munda. "Today only, I came to know about it. We will see what can be done to resolve the issue," the BDO said.
Meanwhile, bank sources said that the nominee in Kalra Munda's bank account was also dead. Therefore, Jeetu Munda was the lone claimant over the money deposited in her name.
The local administration has directed the bank officers to make arrangements and ensure that Jeetu Munda, who is the only claimant as per the rules, gets the money as soon as possible.
