From Bipin Dani
Mumbai: Former IPL chairman Lalit Modi's legal battle against Chris Cairns will begin in London court on Monday. It is a first Twitter libel trial in England.
"Yes, I will be there in the court, but can not comment further till the case is fully heard", he said briefly over telephone from London on Sunday afternoon.
As is the practice in the UK courts, possibly, New Zealand's former all-rounder Cairns may also be present during the trial.
The 41-year-old Cairns has alleged a Twitter message posted by cricketing administrator Lalit Modi accused him of match fixing and was libellous. Cairns' name was taken off the list of players auctioned in January 2010 for the third Indian Premier League (IPL) and Modi, the IPL chairman then, on his twitter page, had stated that the Kiwi was removed "due to his past record in match fixing."
The trial is likely to run for ten days, it is learnt.
Sources close to Modi claimed that he has changed his legal team. The case, which was to be fought by QC Desmond Browne, will now be represented by another legal expert, Ronald Thwaites.
Cains has hired the services of Andrew Caldecott QC.
Cairns has played 62 Tests, 215 one-dayers and two Twenty20s for New Zealand. He made his Test debut against Australia in 1989 and finished his international career with a Twenty20 match against West Indies in February 2006.
