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There is no sign of a compromise between Lalit Modi and the BCCI over the IPL controversy, with Modi sending out a strong message through his Twitter feed that he would not be backing down in what he called a "trial by media" even as board officials spent the day in a series of meetings at their Mumbai headquarters.

"People pressurising me to resign - I can tell you will not happen. Let them remove me then," Modi tweeted. "Truth will prevail soon. Trial by media and no chance to present the facts is like the wild west. Wait and the facts will be delivered."

"Wait for the IPL to finish," he said, "I will reveal the men who have tried to bring disrepute to the game and how we stopped them from doing it."

His messages came a day after the IPL's awards ceremony, where the BCCI's top two officials were missing, and a day before the tournament final. On Friday night, his speech at the awards ceremony was interpreted as a sort of farewell speech and the tone continue in Saturday's tweets. "What we have done has been there for all of you to see for the past 4 years. No one can take that away."

There was some support over the past day for Modi, who has been the target of what some have called a witchhunt, from two franchise owners. On Saturday, the actress Preity Zinta, a co-owner of the Punjab franchise, said Modi has been unfairly singled out and deserved credit for making the IPL what it is. Her comments echoed those of Jay Mehta, the co-owner of the Kolkata franchise, on Friday; he said, "To make one person the fall guy for this is unfortunate".

Through the day, Modi's colleagues on the BCCI's working committee were huddled together trying to figure a way out of this controversy. The IPL's governing council will meet formally on Monday morning to discuss the issue but they would like a plan in place by then.

Speculation has begun on who will replace Modi as IPL chairman, with Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president, a clear front-runner if in an overseeing capacity, and Ravi Shastri, the former India all-rounder, the outside bet for an executive role. Those familiar with the situation suggest that Manohar's name will be nominated for the chairman's position as soon as a consensus is taken on Modi.

"Shashank Manohar should be the first choice," one of the IPL governing council members told Cricinfo. "In whatever capacity he is willing to serve, he is the ideal replacement."

Punters had already tipped Manohar as a favourite for interim chairman of the IPL as Modi's grip over the IPL weakened by the minute in the last week over numerous allegations that have federal agencies like the Income-Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate investigating all aspects of the league's operations.

Unlike the high profile that Modi has maintained, Manohar is low key, almost austere and inscrutable. A lawyer by profession, he mostly operates from his hometown of Nagpur. His biggest strengths are his simplicity and discipline - and, perhaps, his reluctance to entertain the media. "He is honest and has no allegiance to anyone else. Also his untainted image is necessary for the board at the moment," said the source.

But not everyone is entirely sure if Manohar's clean image by itself makes him a suitable choice. "A large part of working in the IPL is you are dealing with team owners who are not used to taking no for an answer," a franchise official said. "You need somebody who is used to dealing with the corporate world. People who works for only the BCCI or for himself like Shashank Manohar, who is a lawyer, is used to diktats and not used to dealing with industry bosses. If you don't understand their problems then there will be huge differences."

A better choice, according to the official, would be Shastri, whose cricketing background coupled with his diversified interests in the corporate field make him a good proposition. Shastri has logged in more than a decade in the corporate industry in diversified areas such as television, and event management. "The IPL sits on a huge bridge between industry and cricket. Being a man who has his own event management company, knows the showbiz, has worked on both sides, Shastri is not a bad choice. That in this case could prove to be a vital difference," the franchise official pointed out.

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