Sharp, brash, ruthlessly ambitious, and admired and reviled in equal measure, Lalit Modi will be known as the man who changed the landscape of cricket. The Indian Premier League, the multi-million-dollar, football-style, franchise-based domestic league, which Modi conceived and executed with spectacular success, has hurtled cricket to the fast lane, forcing the traditionalists to follow suit even while squirming. The tournament, first held in 2008, consolidated India's position as cricket's economic powerhouse, and consequently, its premier agenda-setter.

Modi's rise to the top rung of Indian cricket has been as fast as it has been stunning. Scion of a leading Indian business family, he began his career as an adversary of the Indian cricket board in the early 90s when he was trying to build a business out of distributing sports pay channels. He knew even then that live sports was one of the few things the Indian television consumer would pay for but soon realised the best way to beat the system was to join it. However, it was not until 2005, when he became the youngest vice-president of the BCCI, that he came into prominence. He soon became the driving force of the board's commercial activities and pushed its revenues over the US$1 billion mark. His abrasive and confrontational approach -­ among other things, he accused the ICC of harbouring a neo-colonial bias -­ didn't win him many friends in international cricket, but both he and his adversaries are acutely aware of this: where there is money, there is muscle.
Cricinfo Staff June 2008

• ECB disappointed at Kent's omission (Aug 1, 2008)
  
• Middlesex complete Champions League line-up (Jul 31, 2008)
  
• 'FTP tours will always take precedence' (Jul 31, 2008)
  
• Champions Twenty20 League formally launched (Jul 30, 2008)
  
• BCCI rejects ECB's rival league offer (Jul 29, 2008)
  

View the full list of 76 related articles

Apr 2, 2008 Keith Bradshaw, Lalit Modi and John Stephenson announce the signing of the MCC Spirit of Cricket declaration © Indian Premier League

Feb 20, 2008 Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, speaks to the media after the auction © AFP

Jun 12, 2007 Lalit Modi arrives for the BCCI's working committee meeting © AFP

View the full list of 3 related images