Fine on Warne totally uncalled for: Modi

Former Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi on Wednesday termed the Board of Control for Cricket in India "money minded" and said the board's decision to impose a fine of $50,000 on Rajasthan Royals skipper Shane Warne was uncalled for.

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.

"$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.

"$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."