Amin accepts he bid for Pune IPL team, says informed BCCI

New Delhi:

Interim IPL chief Chirayu Amin has come out in the open about his assocciation with the failed bid for the Pune IPL team after deposed IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi claimed that he was part of the IPL bid that involved a company in which Sharad Pawar's family owns 16%.

He told NDTV that "there was tranparency at every step" that he had taken. He further informed that he had agreed to invest 10% in the Pune IPL bid from an associate firm and had written a letter to BCCI President Shashank Manohar to inform him about his involvement.

The Baroda Cricket Association chief said that had the bid been successful, he would have taken the necessary clearance.

Earlier in the day, Modi had dropped a bombshell by naming Amin in the already murky bid attempt which has dragged the family of Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in it as well. "There were three members in the consortium that was part of the bid. They were Aniruddha Deshpande, Akruti and Chirayu Amin," said Modi, whose suspension saw Amin being appointed as the interim IPL chairman.

"It's a fact of life and I cannot change or distort facts. They were the bidders, one can't change that," Modi said.

Modi, however, has backed Sharad Pawar's explanation that while Pawar's family owns 16% of City Corporation, the bid was made "in the individual capacity" of the Managing Director of the company, Aniruddha Deshpande.

Modi said, "Talk of Pawar's involvement is a joke. Deshpande bid in his own name. This was qualified. He put together a consortium. And also mentioned that a new company will be formed. City Corp was not the actual bidder. Except to show the net worth of one promoter."

Sahara eventually won the bid for the Pune franchise, coughing up a staggering Rs 1702 crore.