Hasan Minhaj, in the interview, raises a range of issues from Lalit Modi’s alleged drugs use to the charges lodged against him by the Indian government. (Youtube/Screengrab)In the latest episode of the show ‘Patriotic Act’, stand-up artist Hasan Minhaj caught up with exiled Indian cricket administrator Lalit Modi for a candid discussion in an episode titled ‘Cricket Corruption’.
In the interview, Minhaj raised a number of issues from Modi’s alleged use of drugs to the charges levelled against him by the Indian government.
During the conversation, Modi made many claims regarding the power the Indian cricket board has over the ICC, the international governing body of the sport.
Here’s a roundup of all he said:
On using cocaine
Minhaj shared segments of his conversation with the former IPL commissioner on Twitter. In the first video tweeted with the caption, “Let ‘em pop off”, the comedian questions Modi on fleeing from his country to avoid jail time and kidnapping charges.
In response, Modi said there was no “jail time” and instead had to do “200 hours of community service.”
Speaking about the incident, Modi explained that no drugs were found but admits that on his way to buy cocaine he was robbed. He further states that he should have no shame in accepting his involvement in drugs because it was a part of his life.
Let ‘em pop off. #NowStreaming pic.twitter.com/Kik2GvcE4N
— Hasan Minhaj (@hasanminhaj) May 26, 2019
On the cases lodged against him
Minhaj questioned Modi about the charges levelled against him by the Indian government and also reads the list of charges to him. In response, Modi said that he was cleared of misconduct and the government can keep on digging. Modi claimed they won’t be able to find ‘zilch’ on him.
Lalit Modi on BCCI’s power over ICC
When asked about Indian cricket board BCCI controlling the ICC, Modi said, “They control the ICC. There is no ICC without the BCCI. You think a single match can take place without India? You think any broadcaster will buy any rights of ICC without India, no.”
He also claimed that the BCCI has been preventing cricket from spreading to smaller nations, which is not a good sign for the sport.
The former IPL commissioner is living in the United Kingdom, citing security concerns over living in India. The Indian government has sought his extradition but hasn’t been successful so far.
The cricket administrator, who is said to be in the UK, has maintained that he has not done any wrong in any of the Indian Premier League (IPL) deals. The ED had registered a money laundering case against Modi and others based on a Chennai police complaint in 2012 on charges of alleged cheating of BCCI-IPL in granting overseas telecast rights of the T-20 cricket tournament in 2009. The Chennai police FIR was filed in 2010 acting on a complaint by former BCCI chief N Srinivasan against Modi and half-a-dozen others.
