Mumbai: IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi is suspended for six months from participating in the affairs of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the IPL, the Working Committee and any other committee of the BCCI." During that period an interim committee will manage the IPL which includes Arun Jaitely, Rajiv Shukla and Ravi Shastri. So what lies ahead for Modi, who undoubtedly took Indian cricket to a whole new level.
Modi's rise to the top rung of Indian cricket has been as fast as it has been stunning. Hailing from a rich business family, it was not until 2005, when he became the youngest vice-president of the BCCI, that Modi came into prominence. He soon became the driving force of the board's commercial activities and pushed its revenues over the 1 billion US dollar mark.
In 2007, Modi launched his pet project -- the Indian Premier League -- and turned an Indian obsession into a phenomenon, creating a multi-billion dollar global brand in the space of three years.
He had business tycoons, Bollywood stars and senior leaders in his thrall, the world's best cricketers wanting to choose the IPL over playing for their own country, and had the entire nation riveted to their TV sets through the evening.
As his power grew, so did his list of detractors. Modi didn't remain everybody's favourite for long; his brash style of functioning and abrasive manner soon put him on the hate-list of important people. He was cut to size on his home turf itself when the Vasundhara Raje government fell.
In March 2009, he suffered his first major embarrassment when he was defeated in the election for president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association.
His adversaries dug deep into his past and came up with a criminal case that involved him as a student of Duke University when he was convicted for possession of 400 grams of cocaine and charged with assault and kidnapping. Modi refused to talk about that episode and brushed it off as a teenager's indiscretion.
'I declare IPL open'
Last year, when the government expressed its inability to provide adequate security cover to IPL, he whisked it away to South Africa. In less than three weeks, he put everything in place and made it almost as successful as the first edition.
Till recently, he was flying high, universally hailed as one of the most influential sports administrators in the world. But the Kochi-Tharoor saga, the allegations of betting of IPL games, the extension of favours to his family members in IPL against Modi have sullied his image.
So is this a permanent sunset or will there be a new dawn soon in Lalit Modi's career? Knowing him, only the foolish will write him off.
There are 22 charges in the BCCI chargesheet against Modi. Here are the top 10:
1. Rigging bids in aborted round of bidding for two new teams
2. Encouraging, attempting collusive bidding
3. Unexplained $80 million facilitation fee about which BCCI was kept in dark
4. Arm-twisting successful bidder, Kochi, to withdraw
5. Indiscipline, levelling baseless charges against BCCI bosses
6. Non-disclosure of interest/stake in RR, Kings XI & KKR
7. Misappropriation of funds
8. Irregularities in awarding broadcast & internet rights
9. Ignoring irregularities in RR in which Modi's kin holds stake
10. Breaching confidentiality clause by tweeting Kochi's share-holding pattern.
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