IPL can survive on its own: Dhoni

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Tuesday sought to steer clear of the raging IPL controversy, but said the high-profile Twenty20 league has the capability to survive on its own.

Dhoni refused to dwell into the specifics of the raging controversy but hoped that things would be sorted out in time before the start of the next season.

“IPL as a brand can survive on its own. But you have to come up with some innovative ideas every time to make it better. No individual but few brains will work together to pull off sensational ideas,” Dhoni said.

“I don’t know what exactly is going to happen as there were quite a few allegations. It’s up to the authorities to see what’s happening because now everyone is into it right from the Income Tax to the IPL Governing Council. They will come up with something really good for everyone that nothing wrong is really happening,” he said.

He also refused to speculate on the fate of IPL without its now-suspended chairman Lalit Modi.

“Lalit was part of it for the first three seasons. We have grown ... every season we came up with something better.

Don’t know what exactly will happen (without him),” he told NDTV.

Asked about the unconfirmed reports of match-fixing in IPL, Dhoni said such allegations should be handled carefully, but any wrongdoer should be punished.

“It is the worst allegation against a cricketer. If there is anything suspect or anything else, it should be handled in a very careful way. Cricketers should be punished ... game should be clean. Match-fixing earns a big time bad name for you,” he said.