Suveen K Sinha: BCCI's new power broker

BACKSTAGE

Don't push me. I don't like to be pushed," fumed Lalit Kumar Modi over his roaming phone from an airport somewhere outside India. All because he was being pressed gently for something he had committed to, through his PR agency, three days in advance: a few minutes of answering questions about himself for this piece.

It was not always like this. About a year ago, around the time that Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq were thwarting India's attempt for victory at Mohali, Modi was always available, on the phone and in person.

Having just become the chief of Rajasthan Cricket Association, Modi was trying to plug his brainwave of a sports channel owned by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), without any involvement of the board's president at that time, Ranbir Singh Mahendra. All Modi had was the support of Punjab Cricket Association chief I S Bindra.

The brainwave did not last long. Funnily, Modi has not spoken one definite word on the channel since the anti-Jagmohan Dalmiya factor, of which he is a part, took charge of the board last November and he became BCCI vice-president and head of its marketing committee. His attention is focused sharply on selling the rights "" telecast, kit sponsorship, leading arm, non-leading arm and players' sideburns. (OK! Not that last one.) Today, BCCI is reckoned to be the richest cricket body in the world.

What the channel brainwave did achieve was a short-term high-decibel visibility in the media (including a front page in BS). Modi has been instrumental in bringing a few TV channels to India, including ESPN, and handled their marketing in the initial period. However, most of the tie-ups did not turn out to be long lasting. His deal with Ten Sports continues. However, Modi is believed to be the one to have insisted against any deal with Doordarshan, which led to the channel's continuing skirmishes with the government and a regulation making feed-sharing with DD mandatory.

Today, even as Modi points a finger at Jagmohan Dalmiya, till recently considered the most powerful man in Indian cricket, accusing him of embezzling funds, Modi himself is not exactly winning the hearts of cricket lovers. Apart from the issue of not being able to see all matches, which is certain to be a big issue in a country where cricket is all-important, we're yet to see the millions BCCI is raking being ploughed back into the game, in improving the lot of cricket clubs and stadia in small and mofussil towns.