New Delhi:
Lalit Modi looked a little more rumpled than usual as he spoke to the press at 3 am on Friday. For a man who usually seeks cameras with the focus of a Bollywood starlet, this was not a moment that he perhaps wanted captured on camera.
He had spent hours, by his own admission, with income tax officials who wanted information about bids for the Indian Premier League franchises. Still, Modi is nothing if not a fighter, and he used the media moment to say that pesky, persistent whisper notwithstanding, he's going nowhere. "I am still IPL commissioner," he said, underlining that he would "not be sidelined."
But his colleagues at the Board of Control for Cricket for India (BCCI), many of whom have been waiting to edge him out for years, say this could be the beginning of the end for Lalit Kumar Modi. Even as the scheming begins, though, there is a note of wistfulness. Modi's toughest opponents know this is a man with refined skills in not necessarily playing by the rules. And so far, that has served him well.
When cable TV began its march into India in the early 90s, audiences grabbed their remote controls. Lalit Kumar Modi, scion of a cigarette distribution company, sensed the opportunity of a lifetime.
He brought ESPN into India and persuaded it to show cricket. The move won him attention in the circles he wanted to belong to.
In 1996, he pitched to the BCCI a limited-over cricket league - a sort of made-for-TV version of the game. But BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya turned it down.
And in the next few years, Modi worked his way into the BCCI. In 2005, when Sharad Pawar ousted Jagmohan Dalmiya, it was Modi who took over as BCCI Vice-President.
Two years later, India won the T20 World Cup with a fledgling team. It was the power-point Modi needed to convince the BCCI that it was time to launch the IPL.
In 2008, Modi made India a promise. ''When the curtain rises and the cricket-loving hordes shout action on April 18, be ready for one of the greatest emotional roller coasters of your life,'' he said. There was near-immediate gratification. IPL changed everything. And it catapulted Modi to the super-power league. He almost single-handedly whipped up an irresistible cocktail of Bollywood, international and Indian front-line cricketers, rookies and industrialists. They were glued together with unheard-of sums. Modi had given birth to his billion-dollar baby.
Even now, as he finds himself increasingly isolated, he can boast of a bottom line that makes the recession look like it never happened.
In its first season, IPL delivered a profit of a thousand crores; season two dipped to 774 crores; this current third season is likely to be the biggest-grosser ever. Financial analysts say IPL's brand value stands today at 18,000 crores. Not exactly pocket change. So can the BCCI afford to do without him?
Modi has faced many serious allegations since the launch of the IPL. That he favoured friends and family in the bidding process of the first eight franchises. That he manipulated broadcast and marketing rights to ensure they landed with friends and family. The most recent controversy - which he tried to force out a new IPLL franchise from Kochi to favour another investor.
In the coming few weeks, it will be clear whether Modi is forced, by the BCCI, to share decision-making with the body's current president, Shashank Manohar, who's likely to be appointed co-chairman of the IPL.
Whether that will eventually translate into nudging Modi out completely is something few people want to consider right now, when the league is at the top of its game.
BCCI sources say the body is all too aware that it doesn't have a catalyst like Modi. His flair for making decisions quickly, cutting through the BCCI's notorious red tape, and his financial clout have all annoyed the association. They're also what has created the world's richest cricket league.
He had spent hours, by his own admission, with income tax officials who wanted information about bids for the Indian Premier League franchises. Still, Modi is nothing if not a fighter, and he used the media moment to say that pesky, persistent whisper notwithstanding, he's going nowhere. "I am still IPL commissioner," he said, underlining that he would "not be sidelined."
But his colleagues at the Board of Control for Cricket for India (BCCI), many of whom have been waiting to edge him out for years, say this could be the beginning of the end for Lalit Kumar Modi. Even as the scheming begins, though, there is a note of wistfulness. Modi's toughest opponents know this is a man with refined skills in not necessarily playing by the rules. And so far, that has served him well.
When cable TV began its march into India in the early 90s, audiences grabbed their remote controls. Lalit Kumar Modi, scion of a cigarette distribution company, sensed the opportunity of a lifetime.
He brought ESPN into India and persuaded it to show cricket. The move won him attention in the circles he wanted to belong to.
In 1996, he pitched to the BCCI a limited-over cricket league - a sort of made-for-TV version of the game. But BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya turned it down.
And in the next few years, Modi worked his way into the BCCI. In 2005, when Sharad Pawar ousted Jagmohan Dalmiya, it was Modi who took over as BCCI Vice-President.
Two years later, India won the T20 World Cup with a fledgling team. It was the power-point Modi needed to convince the BCCI that it was time to launch the IPL.
In 2008, Modi made India a promise. ''When the curtain rises and the cricket-loving hordes shout action on April 18, be ready for one of the greatest emotional roller coasters of your life,'' he said. There was near-immediate gratification. IPL changed everything. And it catapulted Modi to the super-power league. He almost single-handedly whipped up an irresistible cocktail of Bollywood, international and Indian front-line cricketers, rookies and industrialists. They were glued together with unheard-of sums. Modi had given birth to his billion-dollar baby.
Even now, as he finds himself increasingly isolated, he can boast of a bottom line that makes the recession look like it never happened.
In its first season, IPL delivered a profit of a thousand crores; season two dipped to 774 crores; this current third season is likely to be the biggest-grosser ever. Financial analysts say IPL's brand value stands today at 18,000 crores. Not exactly pocket change. So can the BCCI afford to do without him?
Modi has faced many serious allegations since the launch of the IPL. That he favoured friends and family in the bidding process of the first eight franchises. That he manipulated broadcast and marketing rights to ensure they landed with friends and family. The most recent controversy - which he tried to force out a new IPLL franchise from Kochi to favour another investor.
In the coming few weeks, it will be clear whether Modi is forced, by the BCCI, to share decision-making with the body's current president, Shashank Manohar, who's likely to be appointed co-chairman of the IPL.
Whether that will eventually translate into nudging Modi out completely is something few people want to consider right now, when the league is at the top of its game.
BCCI sources say the body is all too aware that it doesn't have a catalyst like Modi. His flair for making decisions quickly, cutting through the BCCI's notorious red tape, and his financial clout have all annoyed the association. They're also what has created the world's richest cricket league.
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