The expulsion of Lalit Modi from BCCI comes as a drab end, much in contrast to the manner in which he made a splash eight years ago.
In 2005, Modi had unlocked the 30-year-old iron-grip of the Rungtas in Rajasthan to win the Rajasthan Cricket Association elections, reworked a multi-million dollar TV deal for the BCCI in 2006 like never before, designed the IPL roadmap in 2007 and became cricket's most influential administrator when he realized his dream in 2008. The beginning of the end came in 2009.
Arrogance and high-handedness are words that have often been attributed to Modi, the business scion-turned-enfant terrible who rose from the girdles of a controversy-ridden past to rebuild his own reputation. But those words may never have haunted him to the extent that they may do now.
The shifting of the IPL to South Africa coincided with the fall of the BJP-led Vasundhara Raje government in the state of Rajasthan in March 2009. It was during that time he also famously managed to rub the Union home minister P Chidambaram the wrong side.
In a world floating with bloated egos, he demanded his share and fell flat. It was also during that period when his own sense of self and superiority clashed with that of then BCCI secretary and current president N Srinivasan.
For all the rivalry he'd created for himself outside the corridors of the board, internal squabbling was the last thing Modi needed.
The IPL was shifted to South Africa and became a bigger hit than it was in its inaugural year but inversely proportional to the tournament's meteoric rise was the fall in Modi's personal brand-value.
His worst critics will tell you, Modi's biggest asset was making decisions. He never sat on them and those who worked with him watched in awe as things moved at a fast pace.
In contrast to what was good, the bad was about his reluctance to come clean on quite a few questions that were asked of him and he always side-stepped them, till date.
The year 2009 was coming to an end and allegations began surfacing about his alleged misconduct in managing TV rights for the IPL, handling various million-dollar contracts and more.
In a few months, court cases began piling for the board. Why did he refuse to admit at all times that his co-brother-in-law, Suresh Chellaram, owned 50% stake in Rajasthan Royals?
Till date, Modi has not spoken in detail about it as much as he has about his many achievements.
Accusations of being party to an $80m payoff by Multi Screen Media to the World Sports Group as facilitation fee, rigging bids at franchise auctions and having personal stake in franchises grew louder.
Sooner than he thought perhaps, April 25, 2010 to be precise, after the IPL final had been played at the DY Patil stadium, he received the board's notice suspending him from all duties pending investigation. The investigations are over, but his answers are still pending.
Those who track Indian cricket will know that friendships and enmities in one of India's most exclusive private clubs are never permanent. But for now, Modi is guilty as charged, bereft of all he thought he'd earned for himself.
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