Cairns' global reputation as "hard and fair captain" hangs in balance in UK court

London, Mar 16(ANI): Former Kiwi cricketer Chris Cairns' reputation is at stake as his libel case has reached its final stages in the High Court in London.

Cairns sued Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi for his tweets alleging that the former fixed matches in the Indian Cricket League in 2008.

Cairns gave up 700,000 dollars of a one million dollar contract with the cricket league in October 2008 after executives confronted him about match-fixing allegations.

Cairns' lawyer Andrew Caldecott said fixing matches would "not only be destroying the past but also destroying the future" for his client,stuff.co.nz reports.

Caldecott also indicated he will pinpoint differences between evidence given in court by Indian players and their previous written statements, in his closing comments.

He said Cairns was defending his global reputation as a "hard and fair captain", and that reputation was "in itself a commercial asset".

Modi's counsel, Ronald Thwaites contended that Cairns had been part of "a diabolical scheme that involved blackmailing young players", referring to six Indians captained by the latter in the 2008 Chandigarh Lions team. (ANI)