Lalit Modi

Well, that very same season in 2013, the Indian police run a sting operation and bust members of two teams in the IPL, the Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Super Kings, owned by N. Srinivasan, for spot-fixing matches. Oof.

Well, that very same season in 2013, the Indian police run a sting operation and bust members of two teams in the IPL, the Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Super Kings, owned by N. Srinivasan, for spot-fixing matches. Oof.

Yeah. I mean, already, like, all the controversy from Lolic kicking out the founder, the driving force behind all of it. That's not good. The two expansion teams folding. Now you've got a police bust of actual spot fixing happening. Now, not match fixing. Match fixing would be throwing the whole match. That would be a big operation. You'd basically need whole teams involved.

Yeah. I mean, already, like, all the controversy from Lolic kicking out the founder, the driving force behind all of it. That's not good. The two expansion teams folding. Now you've got a police bust of actual spot fixing happening. Now, not match fixing. Match fixing would be throwing the whole match. That would be a big operation. You'd basically need whole teams involved.

Spot fixing, this is saying, like... there's a betting line on what's going to happen in each over, like each set of six balls. And so saying like, oh, I'm going to pay this bowler on this team to bowl poorly in this over so that the batter he's facing will perform better or vice versa on the batter.

Spot fixing, this is saying, like... there's a betting line on what's going to happen in each over, like each set of six balls. And so saying like, oh, I'm going to pay this bowler on this team to bowl poorly in this over so that the batter he's facing will perform better or vice versa on the batter.

Exactly. Arguably, but massive trust destroying amongst the fan base. Horrible for the league, especially horrible when it's the BCCI chairperson's team that is doing it. At first, N. Srinivasan denies everything, refuses to step down from the BCCI. This ultimately does become the best thing to happen to the IPL.

Exactly. Arguably, but massive trust destroying amongst the fan base. Horrible for the league, especially horrible when it's the BCCI chairperson's team that is doing it. At first, N. Srinivasan denies everything, refuses to step down from the BCCI. This ultimately does become the best thing to happen to the IPL.

I think if this hadn't happened and there'd just been the forcing out of Modi, things might really have gone sideways here. Because they got so much worse... This forces the government of India to step in. So the Indian Supreme Court steps in. They basically take over the BCCI. They spend two years investigating and restructuring everything. And then in 2015... They announce all their verdicts.

I think if this hadn't happened and there'd just been the forcing out of Modi, things might really have gone sideways here. Because they got so much worse... This forces the government of India to step in. So the Indian Supreme Court steps in. They basically take over the BCCI. They spend two years investigating and restructuring everything. And then in 2015... They announce all their verdicts.

They force Enshrinivasan to step down from the BCCI. They restructure the BCCI. They suspend the two teams that had been spot-fixing, the Royals and the Chennai Super Kings, for two seasons. Those teams are replaced for two seasons by temporary franchises based in Pune and Rajakot. And then the court institutes a whole new clean slate set of reforms and governance.

They force Enshrinivasan to step down from the BCCI. They restructure the BCCI. They suspend the two teams that had been spot-fixing, the Royals and the Chennai Super Kings, for two seasons. Those teams are replaced for two seasons by temporary franchises based in Pune and Rajakot. And then the court institutes a whole new clean slate set of reforms and governance.

And I've been referring a couple times to Manoj Badali and the book he wrote in New Innings about his experience owning and running the Rajasthan Royals, the other team that was suspended for two seasons.

And I've been referring a couple times to Manoj Badali and the book he wrote in New Innings about his experience owning and running the Rajasthan Royals, the other team that was suspended for two seasons.

Totally writes about this. This is his quote on it. He says, For years, foreign direct investment into India had been slow. Historic concerns had included political stability, concerns about corruption, and the risk of retrospective legislation. And so the Supreme Court here, stepping in and basically saying, we're going to backstop and fix all of this. The IPL is...

Totally writes about this. This is his quote on it. He says, For years, foreign direct investment into India had been slow. Historic concerns had included political stability, concerns about corruption, and the risk of retrospective legislation. And so the Supreme Court here, stepping in and basically saying, we're going to backstop and fix all of this. The IPL is...

by far the most visible industry where India is the global leader with the global most important business brand entity in the world. We can't be seen as like, this is a whole sham run by the mafia. We're going to clean it all up.

by far the most visible industry where India is the global leader with the global most important business brand entity in the world. We can't be seen as like, this is a whole sham run by the mafia. We're going to clean it all up.

Totally. So another quote from our good friend of the show here, Ed Cowan, who is a investor at TDM Growth. We did a great ACQ2 episode with them a couple of years ago. Ed... was the perfect person for us to talk to during this episode because not only is he a good friend of the show, he is a former Australian professional cricket player.

Totally. So another quote from our good friend of the show here, Ed Cowan, who is a investor at TDM Growth. We did a great ACQ2 episode with them a couple of years ago. Ed... was the perfect person for us to talk to during this episode because not only is he a good friend of the show, he is a former Australian professional cricket player.