The larger than life persona of IPL impresario Lalit Kumar Modi now
lives in the anonymity of London. With the possibility of returning
home remote in the short term, one could argue that in the murky world
of cricket politics, present BCCI president N Srinivasan seems to have
‘fixed’ him. The man who gave us a well defined new concept called
cricentertainment recently lost a celebrated case against former Kiwi
star Chris Cairns. In an extensive and rare interview with SANDEEP
BAMZAI, Modi, scion of the KK Modi business empire says that he is
‘patriotic India who misses his country.’ But a string of cases and
look out notices prevents him from coming back. Excerpts from a
conversation where Modi covers ground from his battle royal with
Srinivasan and how vested interests got him:
*When the BCCI had its back to the wall with the threat percept from
Subhash Chandra's ICL, they roped you in to create a counter product
which was bigger, better and had their official backing; then they
dropped you like a hot potato, what changed within the board? Was it
the entry of N Srinivasan and the departure of Sharad Pawar?
There seems to be wide misconception that the IPL was the direct
result of the ICL's launch. This is completely untrue.
I had begun my own work on a League way back in 1996 and actually
announced and launched a 50/50 format. Initially, we had the approval
of the BCCI but they then had a change of heart so for over 11 years I
worked behind the scenes to fine tune the idea.
So when I and my colleagues moved onto the Board late in 2005, we
already had a decent plan. But our first task was to get the BCCI
finances and marketing in order and then I followed with the league
concept. Zee, and other broadcasters had heard about the idea and they
wanted us to work with them but we decided that we would work alone on
the set up and then invite them to contest the Media Rights Tender
when we were ready.
As vice president of BCCI and Head of the Marketing cell, I presented
it to the BCCI members and suggested we should launch. There were a
few who believed in it and there were many who didn't. But as I had,
by that time already helped raise over a billion dollars for the
organisation, they decided to approve it. And that led to creation of
the IPL. It had nothing to do with the presence of the ICL.
As for what changed, well the plan I put together and the way we
executed it - became the talk of the world and I guess some people
wanted to embrace it as their own.
*You nursed the IPL as a product, even took on the Govt and relocated
the tourney in South Africa, why is it that the franchise owners did
not support you when push came to shove?
I simply did what was right for the IPL. The success of the tournament
in South Africa was the result of relentless work from a world class
team of people. We had to keep the IPL afloat after the first year and
all the owners supported me. But they only have so much say and like
most sporting federations - a few people who were feeling left out,
ganged up together and they found a natural ally within the
Government. But we kept the IPL alive under near impossible
circumstances.
*Do you miss the million dollar baby and you cannot be unaffected by
all the accompanying acrimony, your thoughts on the whole ball of wax
as it unfolded?
The IPL was - and is - a tremendous tournament and there is an immense
sense of pride at what I was a part of. So of course I miss the event
but the accompanying issues are something anyone in my position could
have done without - and I'm no different.
*What happened in those last few days and hours with Srinivasan, why
did things get so out of hand that he had to sack you as IPL
commissioner over e mail?
That's pretty much a question you would need to ask others. Since my
departure, the BCCI, largely through the activities of Mr. Srinivasan,
has thrown countless, false and unsubstantiated allegations in my
direction, without any level of accountability. All of them, have been
strenuously refuted by me with support from substantiated and
irrefutable evidence to qualify my position.
But although it all came to an abrupt and totally unjustified end, I
would rather focus on what I achieved by bringing the tournament to
life in the first place.
*Losing the Rajasthan Cricket Association elections was probably the
catalyst that compounded your problems, did you open too many fronts
in the cricket world - from Sanjay Joshi to N Srinivasan?
I suppose that was an issue, yes. The IPL was successful and I was in
the public eye, which some people didn’t seem to like. We had created
a successful product and they wanted a piece of the front-line action.
There were definitely certain people using their status within the
Indian game to make life difficult when, instead, they should have
been enjoying a the moment.
*What is N Srinivasan's animus against you? Where did the problem with
him start?
Again, you would need to ask him that, but he certainly wanted things
doing his own way. I pushed back on some important issues because Mr.
Srinivasan was - and still is - the owner of the Chennai Super Kings
and I considered that certain demands such as trying to hand pick the
umpires list in 2010, was a conflict of interest and not in the
interests of the league as a whole.
*Do you miss india, do you miss the fact that you cannot return?
I am a patriotic Indian and I miss my country very much. I look
forward to the day when I can return and hopefully that moment won't
be too far away.
*What happened in the Chris Cairns case which you lost recently?
We have lodged an appeal against the judgment in this case, so it is
not appropriate for me to comment.
*What do you make of IPL now - season 4 was a whitewash - this year
too sponsors, advertisers are fleeing, spectator and viewer fatigue
seems to have set in, what has gone wrong?
I can only comment on how we approached the format and one of the
strongest elements of the whole IPL concept was to make it innovative
and therefore appealing to the fans, broadcasters and sponsors on an
ongoing basis. But you can only be innovative if you innovate! So we
set out to constantly monitor our product, and analyse how we could
improve and move things along. We weren't trying to re-invent the
wheel with every move, but we did try to keep things fresh. We made
sure we worked with all of our franchisees and partners and I'm sure
the recent issues with Kochi and Sahara haven't helped the preparation
process.
*If there was one learning that emerged from your IPLl/BCCI
experience, what would that be?
It would be that we live in a society where performance and success
doesn't always work for you. And neither does it guarantee you the
chance to continue performing or succeeding! Vested interest sometimes
took precedent over the good of the product and I was simply not ready
to accept that.
*Are you in touch with the franchise owners who you were once the
toast of? Or do they give you a wide berth?
I am in touch with all of them. They were and have always been, good
friends and I shall be glued to the TV to see how their teams fair.
-INDIA TODAY, 5TH APRIL 2012
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