Kevin Pietersen, Lalit Modi Lalit Modi has rejected former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen’s claim that The Hundred could become Britain’s version of the Indian Premier League in the next few years, saying no tournament can compare to the IPL.Pietersen wrote on X that The Hundred “will not die in 3 years, it will become a T20 competition in three years”, adding that it could turn into Britain’s version of the IPL.To this, Modi replied, “There will be no T20 tournament like the IPL in this lifetime, my friend,” and gave six reasons why he believes The Hundred cannot reach that level.Modi claimed that cricket is not the top sport in the UK. “It’s football followed by rugby, followed by racing, followed by tennis and darts,” he said, adding that several factors are limiting the tournament’s growth.
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Bombay Sport Exchange: Munaf Patel on Gautam Gambhir, Virat vs Bumrah and Indian bowling. “Not a die-hard fan base. Not a population to support it. Not advertisers to support it. Not Indian players. They will never be allowed to.”The exchange follows Modi’s earlier remarks where he said The Hundred would not survive for more than three years. Pietersen disagreed with this view and said the competition would continue, possibly in the T20 format.In his latest reply, Modi said the economics of UK cricket would not allow The Hundred to match the IPL. He also said that the tournament could be similar to the SA20 at best.“So it’s better to face reality and see it more like the South African T20 league at best. If it’s the only short format in the UK, teams will break even or make a marginal profit. Bear in mind that @ECB_cricket bread and butter will continue to be bilateral games and you should all hope that is the case as the short format requires all of the above ingredients for people to pay £35 a month for a fractional package soccer.”
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Modi, now living in London and facing allegations of financial irregularities and money laundering in India, reiterated that no league can come close to the IPL.
