Lalit Modi, Emperor Nero and Richard Nixon

The Roman Emperor Nero and former USPresident Richard Nixon were both powerful men toppled from seemingly impregnable thrones by a combination of greed, arrogance, paranoia and in Nero’s case, sheer depravity. Lalit Modi is not quite in Nero’s or Nixon’s league; at least we don’t think he is, but his position as the all-powerful supremo of the Indian Premier League is suddenly seriously under threat. In Modi’s case, a sequence of events following the announcement of Kochi as one of the two new IPL franchises from next season has spiralled beyond even the control of Modi’s over-reaching tentacles.

 

We haven't go time to go into the complex detail here of what we at the Reverse Sweep are referring to as Kochigate. But suffice to say, Modi upset a number of powerful people within the Indian Government and BCCI when he revealed on Twitter the complex ownership modus operandi behind the Kochi franchise. As a result, the clouds seem to be gathering around Modi with a number of these shadowy people wanting to deprive him of his empire or at the very least severely clip his wings.

All of this would have been unthinkable only a few weeks ago when Modi’s omnipresent power seemed to be more evident than ever. Indeed, with the television coverage fixation in the IPL of continually panning on celebrities in the crowd, we could see for ourselves that Modi continually wore a self-satisfied smile not seen since the Duke of Wellington left Waterloo for the last time in 1815.

Before the axe falls on Modi, those who would wield it should remember that the IPL and Champions League would not be as supremely successful without its Dark Lord. Love him or loathe him, no-one can doubt his ability for promotion, greasing of palms and sheer drive. He may not be everyone’s cup of tea; he certainly isn’t ours - we are of the opinion that cricket administrators should not be seen and not be heard. But the way he has established the IPL in such a short time as the premier domestic cricket competition in the world is incredible and in its own way admirable. That said all the claim, counter-claim and posturing is over-shadowing the cricket even more than the blanket advertising and useless commentary, so something needs to give.

So as the meeting of the IPL governing council on Monday looms, the question on everyone's lips seems to be, is Modi about to be the latest in a long line of powerful men who went too far and lost their crown? If so, he will have more in common with Nero and Nixon then he would probably care for.