'The BCCI is doing a fantastic job with the IPL': Lalit Modi

The former Indian Premier League IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said that the Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI has done a fantastic job with the league taking the games to newer cities and markets to open up the entire country to the tournamentWhile speaking to Backstage with Boria on Revsportz The IPL has grown to be the worlds 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 IPLThat is how you bring in newer constituencies of people within the fold of the tournament and it has been great to see them do that When I sit here in Austria and see fans from across the country get behind the tournament I have to say I am thrilled and a lot of credit must go to the BCCI for taking the tournament ahead and making it bigger and better he addedLalit however pointed out that there needs to be more innovation on the part of team owners for merchandising since it has really not taken off He said that there needs to be a centralised IPL story and ticketing is something that can be improved uponInnovation not so much from the BCCI but more from the team owners Now most teams have a strong fan base And yet merchandising has not really taken off I would want to see the team owners come together and work on merchandising It is an opportunity lost They should open a centralised IPL store and take the story forward Even ticketing is something the team owners can improve on Rather than doing their own things they should do things collectivelyAlso ReadFair play lsquounequalrsquo payFor 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 SeptemberOctober window earmarked for the Champions League for this Maybe even think if the winner can be promoted to the IPL for the next season Thats where the BCCI can go with the tournament the next few years he addedLalit said that BCCI deserves the credit for expanding the tournament and taking the tournament to cities that were earlier untappedThat 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 145 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 addedHe also said that for the Indian players it has become an aspirational taleThe second point I want to talk about is the success of the Indian players It has successfully become an aspirational tale something it was always meant to be In a team that has Faf Du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell it was Anuj Rawat who did the job for RCB Think what it could have meant to him In a team that has Mitchell Starc it was Harshit Rana who did the job for KKR That is where the tournament is a huge success It is no longer reliant on foreign stars said LalitRather it is the Indian core that drives it The reason the South African League SA20 was successful this year is because the local stars are driving it The same thing applies to the Caribbean League CPL is now a success The reason Dubai and the US are not successes is because they are dependent on outsiders You need the local connection for a tournament to grow Without it you are always going to struggle he addedTalking about the ICC T20 World Cup in the West IndiesUS this year and inclusion in 2028 Los Angeles Olympics he said that the T20 World Cup in New York will be driven by expats He is however sceptical about crickets inclusion in the Los Angeles Olympics and instead feels it would have been better to have included when serious cricket playing nations like Australia and England hosted the eventI think the world T20 in New York will be driven by expats For a oneoff game that is fine In the US it is still the expats who drive the sport In the absence of local connections you cannot really grow the sport So while I do think the India Pakistan match will be a major spectacle and will be a huge draw with expats from all over backing it I am seriously sceptical about crickets inclusion in LAHad it been included in Australia or England for example when the Olympics were being staged in these countries I would say it was a great move But to think that cricket will make its debut in LA where there is no real local connection makes me sceptical We have to wait and see what happens but on the face of it I feel sceptical he concludedWith agency inputs