Former cricket administrator Lalit Modi spoke about the events that led to the creation of the Indian Premier League. He recalled playing an active role in helping Sharad Pawar become BCCI president during the mid-2000s, saying that the move helped him turn his vision of a franchise-based T20 league into reality.
Modi built the IPL by blending the franchise model used in major American sports leagues with the massive appeal of Indian cricket and Bollywood. After the BCCI rejected his proposal for a city-based domestic league in the late 1990s, he turned the idea into a multi-billion-dollar tournament in 2008.
Buying And Trading Became Even Bigger And Bigger In Numbers - Lalit Modi
Speaking on Ridhima Pathak's YouTube show Bad Decisions, Lalit Modi said that his camp had backed Sharad Pawar during the BCCI presidential election in 2005. However, they lost by a single vote after internal disagreements. He recalled that the contest became even more heated in the following year.
“We convinced Sharad Pawar to fight for the post. We go for election, confident of winning and we lose by one vote. Because there's a fight. Within our own people. Pune Cricket Association. Ajit Shirke and Dnyaneshwar Agashe fight. And Agashe gets bought over. By the Dalmia faction. Okay, and we lose by one," Lalit Modi said.
"A considered vote of ours. Last-minute secret voting, Agashe goes. Mr. Pawar is very upset. Of course, rightly so. Now, we fought next year again. Everybody else, the Shuklas of the world, the Srinivasans of the world, everybody was on that side. The fight got stronger and bigger. And buying and trading became even bigger and bigger in numbers," he added.
We Managed to Get the Supreme Court to Pass an Order - Lalit Modi
Lalit Modi stated that he secured a Supreme Court order to ensure independent oversight of the voting process. He said that the order required two retired Supreme Court judges to supervise the election, catching the opposition by surprise on the day of the meeting in Kolkata.
"I remember, November 29th, 2005, I remember clearly it's my birthday. Calcutta, the elections. Home ground of Jagmohan Dalmia. I am in many courts, fighting, and Harish Salve is appearing for me. We managed to get the Supreme Court to pass an order that the elections will be conducted under the ages of two Supreme Court retired judges. Nobody knew the names. We got an ex-party order."
"Meeting starting, nobody knows this is going to happen, right? Mr Dalmia is sitting at the table, and he was going to disqualify quite a few of us. I have the election. At the right time, it's all about timing. At the right time, I'm there, and I present the Supreme Court order. You cannot be the chairman of the committee. Uproar. Close the doors, shut the doors down. Police bandobast had to be done."
"Two Supreme Court judges walk in. It was seen. Two Supreme Court judges walk. Okay. Mr Dalmia had to sit back. We will conduct the elections. Mr Jaitley and all the lawyers helpless, everywhere trying to go back into the court to try and delay this. They're trying to delay the meeting. The meeting, which should have taken half an hour to finish, went on till 5 o'clock in the evening or something. Big tamasha," Lalit Modi added.
We Diverted Some Members' Flights To Different Parts - Lalit Modi
Lalit Modi also admitted that both sides used aggressive tactics during the closely fought election battle. He claimed that some delegates were kept away from meetings and that flight plans were altered as rival groups tried to secure support ahead of the crucial vote.
"Before all of this is happening. People are coming in from different parts of India for the meeting. Members of the BCCI. There are people being held up in their hotel rooms. People whose flights are being diverted. And I must say, we diverted a few flights also of their members. Okay? Because we also diverted some members' flights to different parts. It was like an election, you have to win. The writing was on the wall. We will win on merit basis."
"We won. By the way, Shukla, Anurag Thakur, Arun Jaitley, Srinivasan, all voted for Dalmia and they still lost. So they were never on the Pawar camp. And I'm naming those people specifically. They were on the other side. They were the ones who were spreading the money around.
"They were the Dalmia core group along with the Roomtas, who had only been thrown out, but they're still the core group. And then came to our group, which is clean, merit-based, and we convinced every one of those members of the BCCI that we are good for them. And that's how we won. And that's how we came into power on November 29th. And you see, that was the beginning and the start of the revolution of modern cricket today."
The victory on November 29 changed the balance of power within the BCCI. Sharad Pawar's group took control of the board, and the new leadership later introduced major commercial changes that helped transform Indian cricket and eventually led to the launch of the IPL.
Also read: Jofra Archer mocks Punjab Kings after Rajasthan Royals knock out SRH in IPL 2026 Eliminator
