From "being the poster boy of Indian cricket, Lalit Modi, creator of the highly lucrative Indian Premier League, is being made the fall guy today for all the ills plaguing the premier T20 tournament," according to IANS. Modi, who has had a meteoric rise in Indian cricket, "has come hurtling down and his friends-turned-foes in the Indian cricket board did not pause for a second before taking the drastic decision on Wednesday." They all "fell in line" with Board of Control for Cricket in India President N. Srinivasan and "banned Modi for life." For Modi, who hails from one of the most reputed business families of the country, "he knew what was coming and is now gearing up to take on his rivals in the board." Modi tweeted, "Ban on me as predicted. Like I said not perturbed about it. Rather happy not to be sitting on same table as facilitators of match fixing." Modi "was soon on various television channels warning the board chiefs to be prepared for a long drawn-out public spat and watch out for some sensational stuff" (IANS, 9/26). The HINDUSTAN TIMES reported "the ban was expected." But "the one vote of support" for Modi, that of the Punjab Cricket Association, "was missing and it surprised" considering that I.S. Bindra has been a long-time friend of Modi. The PCA chief, who had stepped up the attack on Srinivasan following the match-fixing allegations, "was missing from the meeting." Instead, he sent secretary M.P. Pandove, "who supported the ban on Modi" (HINDUSTAN TIMES, 9/26).
