'No Manchester United can come close to Mumbai Indians' - Lalit Modi lauds BCCI's handling of IPL

The Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) got underway on Friday, March 22 and the 17^th edition of the tournament has been an enthralling affair for fans so far. The first six games of the season have given every bit of entertainment for the cricket fanatics taking the excitement level for the remaining games a notch higher. Notably, the IPL began way back in 2008 under the reign of the former commissioner of the league, Lalit Modi.

Recently, Modi spoke about the success of the league in the past few years and lauded the BCCI for doing a fantastic job which has made the tournament ‘world’s best sporting league’. He also appreciated the current BCCI management for taking IPL to newer cities and opening up the markets of the entire country.

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"The IPL has grown to be the world's best sports league and has a valuation second to none, and one has to say the BCCI has done a fantastic job with it. The new group in the BCCI that is running the show now has it right. They have taken games to newer cities and markets and opened up the entire country to the IPL,” Modi said on Backstage with Boria on Revsportz.

The former commissioner further suggested the idea of starting a secondary league in tier two and tier three cities in the September-October window bringing the dynamics of promotion into the competition.

"For the BCCI, may be they should now think of a secondary league in tier two or tier three cities. That is where the appetite is, and that is where you should take the tournament. Use the September-October window earmarked for the Champions League for this. Maybe even think if the winner can be promoted to the IPL for the next season. That's where the BCCI can go with the tournament the next few years," he added.

Further speaking ahead, Modi highlighted the fact that there’s still a lot of fan potential left to be tapped in the country and compared the Mumbai Indians franchise with the English Premier League team Manchester United in terms of fanbase.

Each of these teams will be the biggest sports club in the world: Lalit Modi

"That is how you grow your fanbase. Many speak of Manchester United or Liverpool and Real Madrid. In our country, we have still not realised more than 10 percent of the fan potential. In a population of 1.45 billion, it is safe to say that no Manchester United can ever come close to a Mumbai Indians for example. Each of these teams will be the biggest sports club in the world and that is where the IPL is the biggest success story," he added.

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Notably, Modi was the vice-president of the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and is credited for the commercialization of cricket through the introduction of IPL. However, after enjoying three successful years as the league’s commissioner, Modi was suspended by BCCI in 2010 on 22 charges including betting and money laundering.