Was the IPL 2009 auction fixed? A shocking revelation came out

• Allegations of match fixing are often raised in IPL.
  
• CSK and RR banned for 2 years on match fixing charges
  
• It has been revealed that the IPL 2009 auction was fixed
  

The matter of match fixing in the Indian Premier League is not hidden from anyone. It was 2013 when S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan were banned from playing cricket on charges of match fixing. When an inquiry committee was formed, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) were suspended from their IPL contracts for two years. Even today cricket lovers get scared hearing about that terrible IPL scandal. Lalit Modi, who was the commissioner of IPL, had said in an interview many years ago that the bid placed on England cricketer Andrew Flintoff was fixed.

Was the 2009 auction fixed?

The IPL 2009 auction was held in Goa. Many other teams were busy preparing their squad for the auction, but Chennai Super Kings had their eyes on the top player. Andrew Flintoff first made himself available for auction in 2009. Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said in a media interview that he knew that Rajasthan Royals wanted to buy England all-rounder Flintoff at any price. But even before the auction, the then BCCI President and CSK owner N Srinivasan had written a letter to Lalit. Since CSK is also eyeing Flintoff, Lalit Modi asked the RR management to retain Sohail Tanvir.

Rajasthan Royals had very little money left to retain Pakistani player Tanvir. In such a situation, it was not possible for them to buy Flintoff. Due to this, in the 2009 auction, Chennai Super Kings paid Rs 2 crore for Flintoff. The bid was 9.8 crore i.e. 1.55 million US dollars. Lalit Modi himself has admitted that he should have intervened in the auction and he has also taken responsibility for it.

Andrew Flintoff played just one season

Andrew Flintoff became a millionaire in a single season and in IPL 2009 he played 3 matches and scored 62 runs with the bat, while taking only 2 wickets while bowling. He missed the next season of IPL due to knee surgery after the 2009 season and never returned to the league after that.