How Lalit Modi created a tumour called IPL out of the Gentlemen’s game

Remember those day when you woke up to watch India-Australia cricket match? The match used to start early in the morning and otherwise lazy people did not need alarm to watch Mathew Hayden, Andrew Symonds and Ricky Ponting chirping in sleep to stop Tendulkar’s onslaught. Well, all that glitter is long gone. And Lalit Modi is one of those who converted the Gentleman’s game into a money churning machine.

Lait Modi and his obsession with leagues

Lalit Modi is currently in news for dating OTT actress Sushmita Sen. The man is hospitalised due to some complications.  Posting few pictures of him and Sen, Modi tweeted that both are looking to marry in the near future. The news has been talk of the town on the Internet, especially considering the fact that Lalit is known for his flashy lifestyle.

But, this flashiness is not just a part of his individual personality. It won’t be wrong to state that Lalit loves to bring glamour in everything he goes. It is his temperamental trait. Ultra-aggression is part of his trait. During his college days, he was once apprehended in the United States for beating up a student whom he believed cheated him in cocaine deal. In America, he studies Chemical Engineering and business administration, but is believed to have not completed his degrees. Interestingly, sports league of the United States pulled his attention. Simultaneously, Kerry Packer was busy revolutionising and henceforth corporatising Cricket.

Failure in business prompted him to look towards Cricket

Modi wanted to step in sports league, but when he returned to India in 1986, he did not have enough clout in the Cricket world. The man then went to establish Modi Entertainment Networks (MEN) in 1993. Lalit contracted with Walt Disney Pictures and ESPN to import their content in India. But, soon he lost favour with these companies, allegedly due to shady business practices.

Meanwhile, in 1995, he had contacted BCCI for a 50 over league named Indian Cricket League Limited. The idea did not gain traction and so Lalit decided to enter into administrative circles of Cricket. He managed to get on board of Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, Punjab Cricket Association and Rajasthan Cricket Board respectively. After assisting Sharad Pawar in beating Jagmohan Dalmiya, Modi was appointed as BCCI Vice-President.

Wanted IPL at any cost

It is here that he saw how T20 cricket is making its foray. After India won T20 cricket world cup in 2007, Modi grabbed the popcorn and chalked out a plan to start a T20 league in India.

It was 2008 and IPL was finally born amid much fanfare. The eight franchise teams collectively fetched $720 million and BCCI finally had a consistent revenue stream of riskless $1 billion. Bredon Mccullum’s pyrotechnics in the very first match of the league provided IPL much needed traction.

Though, in the later part of the league, Mccullum failed, but IPL did not. It roped in some of the biggest names of the era. These included English stars like Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Fllintoff, Chris Gayle, and Shane Warne among others. Off course, Indian rockstars were there.

Read more: Lalit Modi: The man with great ambitions but a dreadful destiny

Modi is a success maniac and wants to get things done at any cost. That is why when the UPA government refused to provide security for IPL 2009; Lalit Modi airlifted it to South Africa. In spite of dry pitches and South African Cricket administration being tired because of the off-season timing, Lalit got them on board. Within a few days, Visas were sanctioned, five-star hotels were booked, grounds were cleared, required infrastructures were raised, taxation issues were sorted out and the tournament got going. Incidentally, the hurried season saw the announcement of Abraham Benjamin De Villiers on the world stage.

On one hand, Lalit was climbing the success ladder while on the other hand; his unconventional methods were creating enemies for him. Lalit was accused of favouring a particular buyer of Kochi Tuskers Kerala. Later, various other charges started to mount on him, which led to him being expelled from BCCI in 2013. Further scuffle with government authorities resulted in him taking shelter in London.

IPL has been net negative for Cricket

However, IPL continued even after Modi. Today the TV show is the most watched Cricket leagues in the world. Cheerleaders, once a centre point of media attraction are long gone, but the drama is still known. During the last decade or so, it has fundamentally transformed the game of Cricket. Earlier norm for selections used to be based on performances in domestic cricket set up. Now, if somehow a player finds a way to perform in IPL, he is upgraded to international cricket.

This has created a crisis of talent. On the face of it, these players look good because they can hit big boundaries. However, it is not the same as old school cricket. Before the big hits became commercially viable shots, fours and sixes used to be extension of ‘Defensive’ shots. At the best, players used to play these shots during extraordinary times. That is no longer true. Now, coaches design special sessions to teach hoe to play such big hits. Due to it being a short format game, the scope of finding fault in techniques has widened.

Read more: Is IPL really worth watching?

In other words, players are earning more money for less hard work. This has given birth to another level of arrogance. Players like Kieron Pollard do not have much to show at the international level, but they are hot property in cricket leagues. He along with other players like Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith among others in fact made T20 leagues as single source of their connection with the game. The early retirement of player like AB De Villiers is also sometimes attributed to ‘other option’ available to him after international retirement.

Cricket is dying an inorganic death. ODI Cricket is at the risk of extinction. Recently, South Africa cancelled its ODI tournament with Australia to focus on its T20 league. If the trend continues and Cricket gets limited to an entertainment show like WWE, one person will be the reason behind it. And you know the name.

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