MUMBAI: Give him an inch and he will grab a mile. That is the kind of person the whiz kid of international cricket, Lalit Modi, appears to be turning out in the eyes of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
The man who promoted privately-owned all-star teams and their involvement in a rare tournament above the demands of the rest of international cricket, through the lure of big money, seems now to be losing his foothold in the BCCI itself.
When he brought forth the new concept of exploiting the newfound popularity of Twenty20 cricket and its huge profit-making potential, he received good support. If there was any opposition to his self-appointment as the president as well as the commissioner of the Indian Premier League, it was muted. But by his decision to take the event away from India, in view of the clash of dates with the ensuing general elections in the country, he had angered several officials. The BCCI too had a loss of revenue on account of the second edition being held in South Africa.
To add to his waning popularity, two more things happened. First, he unilaterally decided to expand the format of the IPL tournament by induction four more new teams to bring the total to a dozen. This would have meant many more matches and the subsequent extension of the tournament beyond 60 days. Such a situation would have been unacceptable not only to the ICC and the boards of other countries, but also to the BCCI.
Then, Lalit Modi’s attempt at capturing power in the Rajasthan Cricket Association failed badly, as he again lost the elections. This setback has further weakened his position in the BCCI. The top brass of this body has now realized that the time has come to clip Modi’s powers. A good majority of members are in favor of removing him as IPL president, as they believe that this post should be rightly held by the BCCI chief. Moreover, there is now a strong resistance to Modi’s IPL expansion program.
The leading Indian players who are members of the various IPL teams have now joined the officials opposed to the expansion scheme. Their contention is that they cannot take so many extra matches any more. As it is, foreign players who have signed with the franchisees have already put down in writing the limited number of matches that they will play.
The IPL tournament to be played twice a year is long enough to upset other international programs. To elongate it further would surely lead it into the throes of death. Happily, the BCCI itself has realized that what exists good enough. One man’s ambitions cannot just be allowed to run as some kind of a fiefdom any more.
