Indian Premier League founder Lalit Modi hit out at Sanjiv Goenka after the Lucknow Super Giants owner credited former Board of Control for Cricket in India president Jay Shah for the growth of the league. Goenka, who praised Shah’s vision for building a strong foundation for the IPL, called on Modi at X in the early hours of Thursday, March 26.
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Goen’s remarks came after two IPL franchises — Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru — were sold to high-profile consortiums for more than US$1 billion. RCB, for example, has seen its award close to 37 times since it was bought by Vijay Mallya in 2008.
Goenka took to X to say that the skyrocketing valuation was a result of the basic structure of the IPL.
“The way the broadcast and digital rights were structured. The management that gave brands the confidence to invest at premium levels. A lot of that goes back to Jay Shah’s vision,” Goenka said.
The comments did not sit well with Modi, widely regarded as the architect of the league.
“Seriously, this guy really has amnesia about who fathered a model. That’s fine. He’s just living in his own world,” Modi shot back.
THE BIRTH OF THE IPL
The origins of the Indian Premier League can be traced back to the early 2000s, when the idea of a franchise-based T20 competition first took shape.
One of the first defining moments came in December 2003 when Lalit Modi, then an outsider in cricket administration, announced his intention to enter the sport. Over the next two years, with political support and structural changes in Rajasthan cricket, Modi became the president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association, giving him a foothold in the system.
The city league concept initially failed to gain traction with the Cricket Board of India. However, the landscape changed dramatically with the launch of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) by Subhash Chandra. The privately funded T20 league, which features a mix of international and domestic players, threatened to disrupt the BCCI’s monopoly on the sport.
Faced with the possibility of losing players and commercial scrutiny, the BCCI was forced to act. By then, Modi had secured a position on the board, helped by his association with Sharad Pawar, who had taken over as BCCI president.
In September 2007, the IPL was officially announced, supported by both the BCCI and the International Cricket Council. The timing proved crucial as India’s inaugural triumph in the inaugural T20 World Cup that same year helped legitimize the format and generated immediate interest.
Despite initial skepticism, the league found investors and eight franchises were sold in the first auction. What began as a daring experiment soon evolved into one of the world’s most powerful sports properties.
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Issued by:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published on:
March 26, 2026 11:21 AM IST
