London, March 6 (IANS): Former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns says his personal life and successful 20-year cricket career has been tarnished by claims of match-fixing made by former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi.

Cairns has sued Modi, who has been banned by the Indian cricket board over charges of corruption in the IPL, for libel. The case opened at the London High Court Monday.

Modi, in a tweet in January 2010, had accused Cairns of match-fixing and said that it was the main reason he was excluded from the list for the IPL auction.

In court, Modi maintained that Cairns' dismissal as the captain of Chandigarh Lions in the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) in 2008 was linked to match-fixing allegations.

Cairns, however, denied he accepted payments for fixing ICL results as captain of the Chandigarh Lions in 2008.

"An allegation of cheating is one of, if not the most serious of allegations that can be levelled against any professional sportsman," Cairns wrote in a statement tendered to the court.

The 41-year-old said the allegations destroyed his life.

"Left uncorrected it will destroy all that I have achieved over a successful 20-year career. The defendant's allegations have had a profound effect on my personal and private life. It put a strain on my marriage ..."

"It hurts me too that friends, many of whom are former cricketing foes, will question my integrity as a man and a sportsman, and that all I achieved in the great game of cricket is dust."

Cairns said he was sacked as the skipper of Lions because of his failure to disclose an ankle injury.

"In January 2010 any statement by Mr. Modi is likely to have been treated as soundly based," Cairns' counsel Andrew Caldecott said.

Modi's counsel Ronald Thwaites said the ankle injury was a cover-up. Thwaites also said that court would hear evidence from fellow Lions players and International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption representative Howard Beer to support claims of Cairns' match-fixing practices.

Thwaites also questioned payments - amounting to 100,000 pounds - made to Cairns' Dubai bank account in 2008.

Cairns, however, claimed that the amount was paid to him for relocation and living costs in Dubai by a diamond trader for his off-season promotional role. The trial is expected to last up to two weeks.