The rise and rise of Lalit Modi before big fall

Commended and condemned in equal measure, IPL chief Lalit Modi rose meteorically in the last few years but his fall was no less spectacular as he was booted out of the very empire he created.

Modi was suspended late last night barely moments after the IPL final game's presentation ceremony, bringing an unceremonious end to his stint as the IPL Chairman and Commisioner.

The man, who became the youngest BCCI vice President in 2005, was known for his brash style of functioning that often rubbed people the wrong way and probably hastened his fall once damning revelations of financial irregularities in the IPL came to fore.

The 46-year-old was just another businessman before becoming arguably the most influential authority in Indian cricket with his brain child, the Indian Premier League, that became a cash cow for the BCCI within three years of its inception.
    
But one look at his past before he became the all-powerful IPL Chairman and Commissioner is enough to know that Modi led an eventful life.
    
Even that would be an understatement considering that his first brush with controversy came as early as in college when he was arrested for alleged drug peddling while studying at the Duke University in the United States in 1985.
    
Once he returned to India, Modi tried his hands at many businesses before entering the business of cricket.
    
In his many attempts to enter the BCCI, Modi finally succeeded when in 2004, allegedly under the patronage of the then Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje, he became the Rajasthan Cricket Association chief.
    
It is alleged Raje's government altered the Sports Act to help Modi's RCA election, held for the first time in 40 years.
    
Modi's win bruised many an egos, and the man who was hurting the most was incumbent Kishore Rungta. Rungta accused Modi of fraud and impersonation.
    
But for all the legal rumblings that followed, there was no looking back for Modi as he became the BCCI vice-President the next year.
    
He was by Sharad Pawar's side when he overthrew Jagmohan Dalmiya as the BCCI President. The loyalty earned Modi the firm backing of the heavyweight politician, who was among the few who backed him openly in the current drama.
    
Modi rose up the ranks in BCCI before flooring the Board with the IPL. He got in top corporates and Bollywood stars to finance a concept that was a winner even before the first ball was bowled in 2008.
    
With its mix of Bollywood and cricket, the two national obsessions in India, IPL struck a chord almost instantly with the fans, who thronged the stadiums to watch the world's best cricketers competing for city-based franchises.