There’s one thing I was sure about Lalit Modi, the man at the centre of IPL-gate. He just wouldn’t fold up like a concertina because suddenly the powers-that-be at BCCI want him out. Nothing in his manner, or his track record, suggested he would go down without a fight. So, fight he will.

Even though most media suggest that he has no support left in the IPL Governing Council, it seems less clear to me. If you watched Tiger Pataudi, a council member, being interviewed on major channels yesterday, you would know. He seemed indecisive and was, in one interview, ready to allow Modi several days’ time to organize his defence. Former BCCI president I S Bindra, reports say, may still back Modi. If some others on the board share this ambivalence, the council meeting on April 26 – if it takes place and if Modi chooses to attend it rather than boycott it – may not be an open-and-shut case.

In the immediate aftermath of Modi’s clash with Shashi Tharoor, the BCCI only wanted to curb Modi’s powers as IPL commissioner, not sack him. What changed was a lot of accusations against Modi but also the readiness of the IPL czar to spill the worst secrets in order to defend himself, or to hold his job. This has sent shivers down the spines of BCCI officials, many of whom are politicians. Even the franchise owners who showered lavish praise on Modi for the way he ran the IPL are running scared and now seem to have decisively turned against him.

Modi’s approach seems to be as follows: Everybody linked to the IPL has something to hide and everybody linked to the IPL may have something to fear from him. If media reports are to be believed, Income Tax officials and the Enforcement Directorate have uncovered many wrongdoings in many of the franchises. Money laundering is the biggest suspicion, but there are also kickbacks, conflict of interests, sweetheart deals and much more.

While speculation rages on who is involved in what, one thing is clear: Modi alone knows the truth and the complete truth. This is because he has run the IPL like a personal fiefdom. Or maybe we should say the BCCI has allowed him to run it like one. Consequently, even BCCI officials are in the dark, almost as much as the lay public is.

Surely, the IPL will climax not on April 25 when the final is played between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings but the next day when the governing council meets.