Cover story His 10 Mistakes 1 Ran the IPL like a one-man show. 2 Antagonised the BCCI general body,whose support he may need to remain in control. 3 Made a series of tactical mistakes in RUN handling the Government.Took on Home Minister P.Chidambaram on inadequate security during IPL2.

Embarrassed the Government 4 on the apparent boycott of Pakistan players by team franchisees in the run-up to IPL3.

Targeted on conflict OUT 5 of interest using an open forum like .Put himself and his extended As one of the world’s most powerful sports impresarios family’s interests in IPL firmly in the faces the ignominy of being booted out, his own story of public glare. delusion and hubris merges with the larger narrative of 6 Isolated himself further by an unholy alliance of cricket, politics and big business leaking email exchanges between him and other members of the IPL Governing Council. By Prabhu Chawla and S. Prasannarajan Believed he could organise the bids for n the merciless Indian summer, even is no denying the fact that it is born out of 7 the most audacious would pause for the dream of the 46-year-old Modi whose two new teams on the same principles a while before doing an Icarus. The faith in himself as a man who can never as the first bid,not realising that by fatal flaw of the Greek mythological lose the game, no matter whosoever is Season 3 everyone wanted a stake in Ihero was that he was too confident pitted against him, has already made the the IPL action. to realise the danger of flying so (IPL) a brand close to the sun. As Lalit Modi, one of the worth more than $4 billion. In three Subjected the notoriously secretive world’s most powerful sports impresarios years, it has become the most sought- 8 BCCI and his biggest backers so far, who soared in the delusion of his own in- after platform of vanity fair, where cor- the team franchisees,to the ignominy fallibility, hurtles down to the inevitability porate grandees and Bollywood of income tax department searches. of infamy, his own story of power and superheroes and investment-savvy hubris merges with the larger narrative politicians jostle for space. Modi was its Was naïve enough to believe his of a national passion play that unites the creator, protector and even its jet-setting 9 shirtless and the pinstriped and the brand ambassador, and he played the alliances with powerful politicians khadi-clad. In his final hours as the parts with less flair but with would insulate him from questioning, choreographer of ’s biggest sporting abundant flamboyance. He loved it. The though his dealings often smacked spectacle, Modi has become a synonym richest and the beautiful swarmed his of cronyism. for the unholy alliance of cricket, politics durbar, and he himself was, miracu- and business in which everything— lously, getting richer—and more arro- Used the media to talk up his own honour, morality and transparency— gant. In the end, as most autocrats drunk 10 personality cult as much as the IPL, seems negotiable. Today, it is as if his on power do, he took leave from the allowing the glitz,gossip and sensational success, worth a few billions, world of accountability and transparency after-party gatherings to become provides the first draft of his obituary. and withdrew himself into the make more symbolic of the property than The name of that success is spelt as believe of immortality. As controversies the actual cricket. IPL, cricket’s biggest show on earth. There swirled around him over financial

BHASKAR PAUL/www.indiatodayimages.com Cover story LALIT MODI

irregularities and him influencing the INTERVIEW bidding process, he shrugged—or tweeted—off the allegations as if the laws of the land and public scrutiny “Lalit Modi often invites trou ble for himself” were such banalities meant only for lesser mortals. Union Agriculture Minister Sharad about you and your colleague someone has done wrong, he or she The last auction for the IPL fran- Pawar spoke with Managing Editor Praful Patel… should not be spared, and punished. MANOHAR, chises in Kochi and Pune set the stage SHANKKAR AIYAR. Unruffled by the scan- A. Absolute rubbish. I can say this But now there is a tendency to hold trial MODI AND for the unmaking of the Modi myth. In dal, the ICC president-elect played with categorically that it’s not true. Praful’s by the media and some are pronounc- FORMER BCCI 140 characters—ah, the curse of the a straight bat to dismiss the allegations daughter is working with the IPL, noth- ing judgements before the investigation SECRETARY tweet—he put an end to the career of as worse than frivolous. ing more. And nobody from my family process is completed. NIRANJAN SHAH DURING his one-time buddy Shashi Tharoor, an is involved financially with cricket. Q. What is your role in Indian A PRACTICE amateur in the political whirl of . Q. The IPL, a glamorous success Q. There is speculation about cricket? Are you captain, coach, SESSION Modi’s tweet about the sweat equity story, is now a scandal. Why? tapes of conversation between two mentor or selector? FOTOCORP of Tharoor’s lady friend in the Kochi A. There is no doubt that the IPL has ministers and Modi… A. I’m neither captain nor coach. franchise cost the minister of state for been a success, and a global success. It A. I do not pay attention to this kind One must not lose sight of constitutional volved in the broadcast rights, Multi Hawala Hunt external affairs his job. He had to go has provided cricketers income stabil- of rubbish. There is a probe going on; issues. As president-elect of the ICC,my Screen Media (MSM), formerly because questions were asked about ity and given new talent the opportunity let us wait. role is clear: it’s cricket promotion, but Sony Entertainment Television, uspecting use of offshore enti- ministerial propriety and trans- to play with the best. Yes, some allega- Q. But has there been any wrong- it can’t be country-specific or Board- International Management Group Sties, round-tripping and hawala, parency. As Tharoor went down, he tions are being made but I think dispro- doing or not? What do you feel? specific. As former BCCI president, I’m a and World Sports Group (WSG). With the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has had his tormentor by his tie-end. What portionate publicity and attention is A. Government agencies are look- member of the Board but I’m a nobody. the carefully constructed conglomer- put all IPL entities under the scanner. was the meaning of Modi’s selective being given; some of the allegations are ing into the allegations and suspicions. In the IPL, I have never been anybody. ate of big money and super celebrity ED teams have spread across the leak? Why did he single out the Kochi not even worth calling frivolous. I think they should look into all the Q. What has triggered this fight— under siege, the pressure was on country to seek violations of the franchise, which was mentored by Q. There has been speculation charges and let all of India know. If money or personality? Friends and Relatives of Modi (the Foreign Exchange Management Act. Tharoor, a cricket buff, out of his love A. One has to credit Lalit Modi for FROMmies) to recant. The bids for Sources said the IPL was under watch for his home state? The Government creating a product that has been so suc- Teams 1-8 are now being scrutinised. for over six months with strong indi- was ready to sacrifice one of its bright- cessful. He has worked hard and taken I-T officials went to the offices of Shah cations of round-tripping of money, est stars but would not let Modi, who in it as a personal mission. He says he Rukh Khan’s that is funds parked abroad illegally turn was mentored by the mighty wants to show that India can. But and sports management group brought back. Funds seemed to have Sharad Pawar, a UPA ally, go scot free. sometimes his style comes in the way. Gameplan in Kolkata, the office of flowed from tax havens like Mauritius Was Kochi the only stain on the IPL? He is aggressive by nature and often Super Kings in Chennai, the and the in case of at With Finance Minister Pranab invites trouble for himself. Sporting Ventures least four IPL teams, part of which Mukherjee’s announcement in Q. Is this another innings in the in Secunderabad as well as the Kings may have originated in India. Parliament that the Government would NCP-Congress rivalry? XI office in Gurgaon. A strong case is believed to be probe every aspect of the IPL scam, the A. Not at all. Where is the question Suddenly, Modi, the wunderkind of building against shareholders of game was turning politically volatile. of any such thing? Neither me nor Praful the cricketing establishment, has be- Royals—including relatives And cracks were appearing on the nor Sangma are involved in the IPL. come its worst news. Floating in the fan- of IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi— fortresses of the Modi empire. His po- Q. What have you advised BCCI tasy of eternal immunity, he obviously where money had come in from litical benefactors, including the Grand President ? didn’t see it coming. Tharoor was the Mauritius.A team was being sent to Maratha, would soon abandon him. A. Basically, I have said there culmination of a series of follies which Mauritius to probe links of some should be total cooperation with all the either antagonised the Government or individuals in certain “shell compa- government agencies. The probe must alienated some members of BCCI, the nies”. Preliminary investigations till, Modi, true to his style, stood be thorough and conclusive. The IPL owner of IPL. Last year, in the midst of an S indicate that large funds were moved defiant in the face of the Governing Council must meet and election, he clashed with the home min- Government’s wrath. Even as the restore public confidence. The BCCI ister and had to be literally turfed out of through certain Mauritius-based team owners seemed to be firmly be- should restore the sanctity of the game. the country. (The IPL matches were firms which were set up in 2008, the hind Modi, with Vijay Mallya even go- Q. And what about Modi? Does he eventually held in South Africa.) His year the IPL started.The funding of ing on national television to defend stay or go? style—aggressive and exhibitionist— team Kochi was also under the him, income tax officials swooped A. The BCCI and the Governing also made some powerful enemies in microscope.The ED was probing the down on the offices of the IPL fran- Council will meet after the finals and India’s most secretive society, which is source of funds of the Elite Group’s chises Kolkata Knight Riders, they will review the situation. today facing the ignominy of income tax Vivek Venugopal, who has a 1 per cent , Deccan Q. As a third umpire, what do you scrutiny. In an ironical reversal of for- stake in the team.There was a possi- Chargers and Kings XI Punjab and think will happen? Will the IPL survive? tunes, as Tharoor wallows in victim- ble flow of funds from Dubai but so also on the offices of the companies in- A. Of course, the IPL will thrive. hood, Modi, who has repeatedly been N I far no concrete evidence had A

T Let the probe be completed. We will questioned by the income tax sleuths, is B I S

emerged. PAWAR WITH R all know the truth. Doodh ka doodh, desperately struggling to postpone the A M

MANOHAR A by Bhavna Vij-Aurora Q paani ka paani. obvious: an inglorious ejection from the

22 INDIA TODAY ◆ MAY 3, 2010 MAY 3, 2010 ◆ INDIA TODAY 23 NEW Cover story LALIT MODI

GETTY IMAGES Transparency Sham

Why are the BCCI and IPL Governing Council shying away from disclosing beneficial ownership of the IPL teams?

n April 14, 2010, at 10:40:26 p.m., IPL Commissioner where all the documents and papers related to the bids are OLalit K. Modi sent an email from [email protected] available. to Niranjan Shah, N. Srinivasan, Warm regards Sanjay Jagdale, M.P. Pandove, I.S. Bindra, , Shashank Chirayu Amin, Rajiv Shukla, , Ravi Shastri, April 21: Why Modi didn’t disclose ownership pattern MAK Pataudi, Farooq Abdullah, all the franchisees and in three years Shashank Manohar officials, including the CEO of IPL. In all, Modi addressed the mail to 55 people and marked copies to 21 people, Arun Jaitley including Sharad Pawar. April 15, 9:39 a.m. In his mail, Modi exhorts his colleagues and the I endorse Shashank’s proposal franchise owners to enable the disclosure of beneficial own- Arun Jaitley ers of all the teams. Surprisingly, the bigwigs, including BCCI President Shashank Manohar, N. Srinivasan, Niranjan Shah N. Srinivasan and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley April 15, 11:20 a.m. advised against full disclosure. I completely agree with the President. MODI WITH DAUGHTER ALIYA (LEFT), The contents of some of the mails presented below tell Srinivasan WIFE MINAL AND SON RUCHIR the untold story of the key members of the BCCI and how the IPL Governing Council (GC) prevented full disclosure. Niranjan Shah April 15, 11:28 a.m. LIKE MOST AUTOCRATS, MODI TOOK Lalit K. Modi I agree with the President’s view. April 14, 2010 at 10: 40 p.m. Regards LEAVE FROM THE WORLD OF Dear friends, Niranjan ACCOUNTABILITYAND TRANSPARENCY Propriety and fair play demand that we should, as a public body, disclose ownership details Chirayu Amin AND WITHDREWHIMSELF INTO along with names of directors of all franchises once again. April 15, 11:39 a.m. Earlier, at the time of bidding, we only disclosed the names Let’s go with President’s views and discuss in GC. THE MAKE BELIEVE OF IMMORTALITY. and shareholding. Chirayu If everyone is okay with this, we will issue the same right away. That way all doubts and aspersions being cast on the Ravi Shastri IPL franchisees and members of the GC will be appropriately April 15, 8:44 p.m. gilded world of power and glamour. The business. Inspired by the English rebutted. I hope you all agree with the same. I agree with the President. If there are swagger is missing; he may still sound Premier League, Modi structured the Warm regards legal implications on the horizon, it’s better defiant but the ground is slipping from Indian Premier League as an end-to- Lalit Modi to tread cautiously rather than being in a beneath his designer loafers. The one end laterally connected business Chairman and Commissioner, IPL hurry. A GC meeting, sooner rather than later, is crucial who is used to the company of A-listers model that integrated investments, en- and a must. from politics, business and showbiz tertainers and mass audiences to de- Shashank Manohar Ravi. finds himself staring into a void—alone liver great revenues. In this he learnt April 15, 9:17 a.m. Interestingly, all of them have chosen to address their and abandoned. from all the mistakes that the Subhash Dear Lalit, response only to council members even though Modi had In retrospect, his was a journey Chandra-led initiative, Indian Cricket The issue is complex and needs detailed deliber- written to all the participants and officials of the IPL. Other semaphored by ambition and determi- League, had made. That IPL is a $4 bil- ation, the legal implications need to be gone into GC members Rajiv Shukla, I.S. Bindra, Farooq Abdullah and nation. The story of Modi, a business lion-plus brand is a testimony to his ex- and, hence, can be considered at the GC meeting Sunil Gavaskar did not respond. graduate from in ecution abilities. Modi claims he first America, is far from being a rags-to- came up with the idea of a league in the NOTE: riches saga; rather, it is one of riches 90s when he was distributing ESPN. Those who were sent the mail include: Vijay Mallya, Amrit Thomas, Ritesh Bhatnagar, Vijay Rekhi, N. Srinivasan, R. Srinivasan, Raghu Rakesh Singh, Nikhil to an embarrassment of riches. Born But the BCCI ignored the arriviste. Modi Meswani, Mukesh Ambani, Aditya Chellaram, Suresh Chellaram, Manoj Badale, Lachlan Murdoch, Santanu Chari, Gaurav Burman, Mohit Burman, Preity into a north Indian business family— was not the one to give up. What he Zinta, Ness Wadia, Karan Paul, Srinivas Bommidala, Amrit Mathur, P.B. Vanchi, Jk, N. Krishnan, Jay Mehta, Shah Rukh Khan, Colleen Venning, Fraser Castellino, Arvinder Singh, Aditya Khanna, Venkat Reddy, Raj Kundra, Shilpa Shetty Gurunath, Nita Ambani, Ram Reddy, Sushil Jain, Sean Morris, Sid Mallya, he is still the managing director of the wanted most was an entry pass for the Karuna, Abhijit Sarkar, Niranjan Shah, Shashank Manohar, Inderjit Bindra, Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, MAK Pataudi, Chirayu Amin, Arun Jaitley, Rajiv Rs 4,000-crore and hallowed precincts of BCCI—somehow. Shukla, Farooq Abdullah, M.P. Pandove, Sanjay Jagdale. Those copied on the mail include Sharad Pawar, Radhika Moolraj, Viraf Mistry, Poorna Patel, Faisal executive director of Godfrey Phillips, He found an ally in the then Rajasthan Shariff, Laila Mallya, Sundar Raman, Gauri, Andrew Wildblood, John Loffhagen, Peter Griffiths, Graca Morgado, Michael Fordham, Catherine Simpson, Louise the country’s second largest cigarette chief minister , who Anthony, Vandana Gupte, Utkarsh Prasanna Kannan, Kabir Mallya, Saloni, Paul Manning manufacturers—he was too driven to got the rules of election to the be confined to the anonymity of family Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA)

24 INDIA TODAY ◆ MAY 3, 2010 NEW Cover story LALIT MODI

changed to make Modi, who was Digging in the Dirt by then already a district cricket asso- Indian Plunder League ciation president from the state, the As the Government goes all out to clean Indian cricket, the I-T boss of RCA, a post that ensured him a A recent Income Tax Department report suggests that IPL chairman and the man in centre of a scandalous storm Lalit Modi has Department gets a clear brief to unearth all the murky deals seat in BCCI, and soon he would be the amassed wealth by less than kosher means. Before the IPL, he was better known for being the scion of an industrialist family who vice-president of the board. In 2008, had tried his hand none too successfully at various enterprises. Post-IPL, Modi is the cynosure of all eyes, an achiever.While there is t can run but the Board of Control for (BCCI) can’t hide from he realised his dream, and IPL, cashing little doubt that Modi has converted an idea into a multi-billion-dollar baby, not everyone is convinced about his rise to riches. Ithe Income Tax Department. Early on Wednesday, I-T officials zeroed in on in on a national obsession, became the Some of the suspicions raised by the “source note of the Income Tax”are serious in nature.The raids by the I-T Department across the offices of Multi Screen Media (MSM), the company that owns Sony biggest success story in Indian sport- the country since last week are aimed pinning down the offenders with clinching evidence. Entertainment Television in India, the World Sports Group (WSG), the resi- ing history. dence of WSG chief Venu Nair, and the International Management Group Armed with the twin titles of chair- (IMG). IMG is the company that organises IPL events while MSM has the IPL man and commissioner, Modi would LUXE LIFE telecast rights in India and WSG won the worldwide telecast rights for nine grow larger than the institution he cre- ALL IN FAMILY years from the BCCI in March 2009. I-T sleuths also conducted surveys at the ated. As the details of team ownerships Modi owns a fleet of high-end cars including S-Class offices of Kings XI Punjab, Deccan Chargers, Kolkata Knight Riders and were shrouded in secrecy and IPL’s Mercedes, a luxury yacht, holiday homes in the Chennai Super Kings to get the auction papers of 2008. financial dealings centred around one Mediterranean and a Challenger 300 private jet Jaipur IPL Cricket is 100 per cent foreign-owned by EM In 2008, the BCCI had sold the rights to WSG for $918 million and an extra omnipotent arbiter, questions were PROBE MATRIX Sporting Holdings. Comprises four companies. Suresh $108 million for promotions, and WSG India in turn sold the Indian telecast bound to be asked. Modi’s style of func- Chellaram, Modi’s brother-in-law, owns 44.2 per cent rights to MSM for Rs 220 crore per season for five years. The BCCI in 2009 then through his company,Tresco International. sold the telecast rights for IPL-2 to WSG Mauritius for over Rs 335 crore per TV CREWS TRY TO GET A PIECE OF THE MODUS OPERANDI SEBI FOCUS year, 50 per cent higher than its deal with Sony Max, a channel owned by MSM ACTION ATTHE WSG OFFICE IN Income Tax and Enforcement Listed companies who own Kings XI Punjab (formerly Sony Entertainment Television). The BCCI scrapped the Directorate officials believe a teams, such as UB, India Owned by KPH Dream Cricket Pvt Ltd, Mohit Burman is contract with Sony Entertainment on March 14 and signed the new maze of shell companies and Cements, RIL, Deccan listed as a co-promoter and director. He is said to own contract with WSG Mauritius at 3 a.m. on March 15. WSG Mauritius claims that it is not directly related to WSG India. MSM then dragged offshore entities in tax havens Chronicle, to furnish board 24.5 per cent. He is the elder brother of Gaurav, who is the BCCI to court. A couple of days later, however, the parties reached were used to route invest- and shareholder clearances married to Modi’s stepdaughter, Karima Sagrani. ments. Is alleged to for investments in IPL. a settlement, with MSM agreeing to pay $1.63 billion for nine years. own equity stakes worth In order to renew its telecast deal, it also had to pay a facilitation fee Global Cricket Ventures (GCV) of $80 million to WSG. crores of rupees in at least CONFLICT ZONE Owns the exclusive licences for digital and mobile The I-T Department will now try to verify how MSM entered into three of the teams in the IPL. India Cements Vice Chairman rights to the IPL and Champions Trophy until 2017.Fifty an agreement with WSG Mauritius to pay a facilitation fee of 7.5 N. Srinivasan, the owner of per cent of GCVis owned by Elephant Capital, a private per cent of the IPL contract value. On April 14, 2009, MSM remitted BENAMI DEALS Chennai Super Kings, won the equity fund where Gaurav Burman is managing partner $15.3 million from the Development Bank of Singapore to WSG and Shielded by an opaque system bid for the franchise when he and brother Mohit is a director.The other 50 per cent is $10.276 million in two separate installments on June 26, 2009. The process, bids were dictated was treasurer of BCCI. He is owned by the Dubai-based NetlinkBlue, whose chair- I-T Department views this as tax evasion worth almost Rs 120 crore. and fixed to create benami now the secretary of the board WSG India has issued a statement, saying that I-T officials visited its man Akash OP Aurora is a long-time friend of Modi. interests in teams and assets and a member of the IPL Mumbai office seeking information on matters concerning the BCCI across IPL activities. Governing Council. and the IPL. The statement strongly refutes allegations of any impropriety. by Malini Bhupta CASH QUERIES UNDER THE SCANNER BHASKAR PAUL/www.indiatodayimages.com ● Sequence of investments FIPB clearance for investor Manoj Badale against issue of 32% stake tioning—that apres moi le deluge arro- and clearances is now the gance—only worsened the scenario. focus of probe into the FEMA provisions in foreign investments into Rajasthan Royals and He excelled in flaunting his wealth, ownership of Rajasthan two other IPL teams—Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders which allegedly originated from his Royals which was proxy shares in certain teams and awarded in 2008 to Facilitation fee agreement of $80 million between WSG and Multi money laundering. He made no effort Emerging Media (IPL) Ltd, UK, Screen Media to clarify or keep his political benefac- when Jaipur IPL Cricket Pvt Round-tripping through shell companies located in Virgin Islands, tors in good humour. Well, he may still Ltd was yet to be formed. argue that he is born rich, that, as a top Mauritius and Dubai executive of the multi-crore family ● ED is looking at links be- tween investments made in Transactions of Emerging Media,Tresco International Ltd, Blue firm, he can afford a yacht and Challenger 300 private jet. Now, with the ownership of Kings XI Water Estate and Kuki Investments missing auction papers and so many MANDAR DEODHAR/www.indiatodayimages.com Punjab and transactions in unanswered questions about the IPL the oil-for-food scam. $4.13 bn is the brand value of the IPL Value of alleged benami holdings in three teams is $42 mn economy, he will have to come out with a more convincing defence but none

26 INDIA TODAY ◆ MAY 3, 2010 MAY 3, 2010 ◆ INDIA TODAY 27 NEW Cover story LALIT MODI

BHASKAR PAUL/www.indiatodayimages.com The Serial Killer If it wasn’t for Lalit Modi’s immodesty, the IPL would be a matchwinner on and off the field

nly Lalit Modi could have Odone this with his chronic ten- dency of looking for trouble to run into. Even as his world comes tumbling down, every commercial indicator of the IPL is up. Viewership has risen from an average TRP of 4 last year to 4.5 this year, with the cumulative reach going up to 138 way while Modi oiled wheels and THE POPULARITY OF THE IPL IS EVIDENT FROM ITS HIGH TRPs million for the first 53 matches from struck deals. As a spectator sport, 121 million last year, and more view- after a somewhat lame Season 2, ers among 4 to 14-year-olds as well IPL-3 found itself firmly ensconced seems to be left, unless he still as women. Team franchisees are in the nation’s evening embrace, believes that as the patron saint of making at least 40 per cent higher driving down the viewership of India’s most celebrated national festi- revenue than last time, thanks to a the top five soaps on general enter- val on television, he has the mandate to hike in their share of the central rev- tainment channels in this period reign unchallenged. enue pool with new sources such as (just an example, Star Plus’ Yeh His struggle, in the end, is all about after-parties and the MRF blimp, as Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai was 6.8 power, which in India today is no well as greater local revenue before IPL and 5.3 during the tour- longer defined by politics alone. Modi, through team sponsorships and gate nament). The tournament threw up who even in his worst moment is receipts. Sony, now called MSM, shining new stars, on and off the suited in pastel perfection, also tells us regardless of its trouble with the field, from the dashing Murali Vijay how the gentleman’s game has be- taxmen, is making a revenue of to the affable Angad Bedi. come a hustler’s passion—and how it Rs 700 crore this year having raised Not every deal Modi struck was brings politics, business and glitter to ad rates to Rs 4-5 lakh per 10 profitable—for instance, though the an unsavoury profit-sharing arrange- seconds. Even Modi’s bête noire, the IPL may have made Rs 330 crore for ment. Even the Government’s commit- income tax authorities, arrived at a 10 years by selling theatrical rights ment to the de-Modification of the IPL preliminary figure of Rs 1,170 crore to Entertainment Sports Direct, the has a subtext of coalition compulsions. as BCCI’s income from IPL-3. revenue looks unlikely to match it. Modi is more vulnerable because his Thanks to IPL-1, the BCCI made a But if it could speak to Modi, the political protector has been forced to profit of Rs 350 cheeky scoreboard ditch him. So, a scalded, falling IPL crore in 2008, IPL-3 MATCHES which revels in chief has become the singular evil, and which was more 2008 2009 2010 being rude (it said the suddenly awakened cricket than its profit for all Average 4.7 4.0 4.5 Good Knight to cleansers hope his elimination will of 2007. Its profit TVR (%) of last Kolkata Knight bring in redemption. That is false for 2010 is expected 53 matches Riders as they exited hope. The system that enabled Modi to to touch Rs 700 the tournament) play the highest lord of the game is still crore. It’s no sur- Reach 100 121 138 would say: Butter intact, and it is unlikely that the aveng- prise then that the for last 53 Fingers. He had it all ing masters of fair play will go for a Board was willing matches only to drop it all. total shake-up. The story doesn’t end to look the other (in millions) by Kaveree Bamzai with the fall of Lalit Kumar Modi. He has made it murkier. ■ Source: Television Audience Measurement

28 INDIA TODAY ◆ MAY 3, 2010 NEW