In the USA, Modi had been impressed by the huge revenues of the American sports leagues.

In
1995, he pitched his idea for a new 50-over tournament to BCCI. He even registered a name –
Indian Cricket League Limited – for the proposed league. However, the BCCI did not take the
proposal seriously. Modi then resolved to join the Board. As a step towards this goal, in 1999, he
managed to get elected to the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, a constituent body of
BCCI.[4]:166 However, his attempt to gain control of the Association failed, and he was forced to leave
the Association by the Chief Minister of the state.[21] In 2004, Modi was elected as the Vice-President
of the Punjab Cricket Association, under the President Inderjit Singh Bindra.[15] He retained this
position in the 2008 elections.[22]

Rajasthan Cricket Association[edit]

In 2003, Modi's friend Vasundhara Raje was elected as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan. Modi knew
Raje through a common school friend Bina Kilachand, and had become one of the Chief Minister's
closest associates.[12]
After his failed stint in Himachal Pradesh, Modi decided to gain control of the Rajasthan Cricket
Association (RCA), another constituent body of BCCI. The RCA had been controlled by the Rungta
business family for over three decades. It had 32 district associations as its constituent members,
plus 66 individual members – all of whom were members or peons of the Rungta household. During
the 1980s and 1990s, there were several unsuccessful attempts to eject the Rungta family from the
RCA. After Vasundhara Raje became the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, a faction led by Modi started
fresh attempts to defeat the Rungtas. Modi registered himself with the RCA under the name "Lalit
Kumar", as a member of the Nagore district's cricket association. He didn't use his full name for the
fear of being denied entry.[21][23]
In 2005, Modi used his connections with Raje to get the Rajasthan Sports Act passed. This
ordinance took away voting rights from the 66 individual members, leaving only the 32 district
associations as voters.[24] As a result, Modi was elected as the President of RCA, defeating the
incumbent Kishore Rungta by just 1 vote.[25]
As the RCA President, he spent ₹ 200 million to renovate Jaipur's Sawai Mansingh Stadium, making
it one of the best cricket stadiums in the country. He spent another ₹ 70 million to build a state-of-
the-art cricket academy.[2] He sold the boundary-rope advertising for ₹ 1.5 million per spot, more than
double the previous rate. He also ended the practice of giving away tickets for free and sold
corporate box seats for ₹ 125,000 each.[6]

Board of Control for Cricket in India[edit]

After becoming the RCA President in 2005, Modi helped the Nationalist Congress
Party leader Sharad Pawar defeat Jagmohan Dalmiya in the BCCI Presidential
elections.[12] Subsequently, Modi was appointed Vice-President of the BCCI.[26]
Lalit Modi was heavily involved in the commercial side of the BCCI. Between 2005 and 2008, BCCI's
revenues increased sevenfold, touching the $1 billion mark.[27]

Indian Premier League[edit]

In 2008, Lalit Modi was instrumental in launching the Indian Premier League (IPL), based
around Twenty20 cricket. He also engineered the IPL's move to South Africa in 2009, after the dates
of the tournament clashed with the Indian general election and the Union Minister of Home Affairs,
P. Chidambaram, could not commit to the security of the tournament.[28][28][29] The IPL grew into one of
the world's biggest sports league, worth over $4 billion. The commercial success of IPL and Modi's
control of the league led to him being compared to Don King (boxing promoter) and Bernie
Ecclestone (Formula One promoter).[30]
Modi's family and friends also profited from IPL. Suresh Chellaram, his brother-in-law (husband of
his sister Kavita), owned a majority share in the Rajasthan Royals franchise. His step-daughter
Karima's husband Gaurav Burman was a stakeholder in Global Cricket Venture, which won the
digital, mobile and internet rights of the IPL. Gaurav's brother Mohit Burman was a stakeholder
in Kings XI Punjab. Jay Mehta, one of the owners of Kolkata Knight Riders, is a childhood friend of
Lalit Modi.[12] Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders were the cheapest
franchises and very closely priced, leading to speculation that Modi had passed on insider
information to the owners.[15]