By taking Indian Premier League to an impossible height within one year of its introduction and turning a mere domestic tournament into a million dollar show involving all top rated cricketers in the world, Lalit Modi has definitely come among the movers and shakers of the international cricket. But the powerful cricket administrator has tasted the defeats in his own backyard when his opponents’ months’ long efforts yielded result. The high profile cricket boss lost the race for the top slot in the Rajasthan Cricket Board, a chair that he clung to for four years. However, Modi was quick to add that this defeat would not stop him from remaining the IPL chief; neither would it affect his standing as BCCI vice president.

He seems to run out of luck since the BJP government was ousted from the power. A close confidante of former CM Vasundhara Raje, Modi claims that all the controversies in the recent times have been cooked up by the present Congress government to malign him and to force him out from the State’s cricket administration.

In another sensational revelation, Sanjay Dixit, who defeated Modi by 5 votes, alleged that he received a “life threatening warning” from the Indian Premier League chairman, who also tried to bribe the voters. However, Dixit, an IAS officer and head of the state Tennis association, informs the media that he has lodged a police complaint.

Curiously enough, it is not only his rival camp alone that does not approve the flamboyant cricket administrator’s ways. There are men in his ruling group in BCCI, among whom Modi is far from being popular. Despite this, Modi would continue to hold the chair of Vice President in BCCI till 2010, provided his designation is not questioned on technical grounds. Four years ago, RCA played the key role in ousting Dalmiya group from BCCI. Today the same body acted as a boomerang for the ouster of Lalit Modi. The force that ousted Dalmiya and brought in Modi now goes against the initiator of the game plan himself and throws him out. As it was pointed out by someone from Modi’s opponent camp, that the defeat should be an eye opener for Modi that RCA was not his personal asset, another lesson to learn in the upcoming days that IPL is also not any individual’s fiefdom.

It is to be seen now, whether the man takes the message and keeps a low profile in the upcoming IPL days.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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