Lalit Modi is an Indian businessman and the founder of Indian Premier League (IPL). He was banned from BCCI(Board of Control for Cricket in India) on charges of financial irregularities and misconduct in 2013. 

He ran to London after the Enforcement Directorate’s investigation against him on charges of financial irregularities. Modi is the executive director of Godfrey Phillips India and the president and managing director of Modi Enterprises.

He was very ambitious and hopeful about Cricket Business in India. To start the IPL he even changed his name once to join Rajasthan Cricket Association. The idea of IPL came to his mind after witnessing the profit of the American sports league. He even pitched the idea to the BCCI but they denied it and that led to Modi’s political journey into the BCCI. In 1999, he was elected to the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, a constituent body of the BCCI, as a step toward this goal.

His attempt to take control of the Association, however, failed, and he was forced to quit by the state’s Chief Minister. Under the presidency of Inderjit Singh Bindra, Lalit Modi was elected vice-president of the Punjab Cricket Association in 2004. In the 2008 elections, he was re-elected to the same position.

Vasundhara Raje, Modi’s friend, was elected Chief Minister of Rajasthan in 2003. Modi had become one of the Chief Minister’s closest associates after meeting Raje through a common school buddy, Bina Kilachand. He changed his name to Lalit Kumar and joined Rajasthan Cricket Association to escape discrimination. With the help of Vasundhara, he managed to change a few rules and became the president by winning election, allegedly. He did much work to grow the Rajasthan Cricket Association such as build a stadium to a world-class level, established a coaching academy, etc.

Lalit Modi helped Sharad Pawar, the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party, defeat Jagmohan Dalmiya in the BCCI Presidential elections after becoming the RCA President in 2005. Modi was subsequently named vice-president of the BCCI.

Lalit Modi was significantly involved in the BCCI’s commercial operations. BCCI’s income surged sevenfold between 2005 and 2008, reaching $1 billion.