BCCI money minded; fine on Warne uncalled for: Modi

Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi on Wednesday termed the BCCI "money minded" and said the board's decision to impose a fine of $50,000 on Rajasthan Royals skipper Shane Warne was uncalled for. (Also Read: Shane Warne fined $ 50,000)

Warne escaped a ban but was fined heavily by the IPL's disciplinary commission in Mumbai on Wednesday for calling RCA secretary Sanjay Dixit a "liar and egoistic" after an IPL match in Jaipur, forcing RR owner Shilpa Shetty to intervene and apologise for the incident.

"BCCI Money minded heads targeting a legend like Warne is uncalled for. They are indirectly attacking all your close friends. Shame on them," Modi tweeted.

"USD 50000 fine for Warne while Dixit is free to punch away on twitter! unbelievable! not a word from the BCCI on Dixit mocking Tendulkar.

"Rajasthan CA wants ban; Royals want Shane. They call themselves sports administrators and wanting ban?" he added. Modi felt the apology was enough on Warne's part.

"USD 50k would have bought Kaif for the IPL.. The incident is a big shame and I m sure each cricket lover would be upset right now.

"BCCI ought to have been magnanimous and left the legend accepting the apology. A fine should only commensurate with the damage done," he further tweeted.

The sacked commissioner also took a dig at BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, accusing him of favouring his team Chennai Super Kings.

"Not indirectly, but very directly. Fixing the auction, umpires and now pitch. Just give the damn trophy to CSK.

"It's a pity Srinivasan is resorting to all that. CSK is a mighty fine team and can win without any such help," he said.

Modi also tweeted that the TV ratings of the Twenty20 league have reached an all-time low this season.

"Just learnt that the ratings for IPL have reached an average of 3.84. Which is the lowest it has ever achieved. Sorry to hear the same."