Internet is buzzing around the news of former Miss Universe and Bollywood actress Sushmita Sen dating business tycoon Lalit Modi. On Thursday, Modi announced on Instagram that he is dating the first Indian Miss Universe, Sen. Lalit Modi, who is the first chairman of the Indian premiere League (IPL) posted a set of pictures with the former beauty queen and referred to her as his “better half”.
“Just back in London after a whirling global tour #maldives #sardinia with the families – not to mention my #betterhalf @sushmitasen47 – a new beginning a new life finally. Over the moon (sic),” Lalit Modi wrote on Instagram and Twitter. He later clarified that they aren’t married and that they are “just dating.” “Not married – just dating each other,” he wrote in another post.
Who is Lalit Modi?
Born in Delhi in 1963, Modi was the founder and the first chairman of the Indian premier league (IPL) which was started in 2008.
The 58-year-old had studied engineering and business administration in USA. According to ESPN, Lalit Modi changed the landscape of cricket before exiting the stage controversially, and as dramatically as he entered it. The IPL, the multi-million-dollar, football-style, franchise-based domestic league, which Modi conceived and executed with spectacular success, has hurtled cricket to the fast lane.
“Modi’s rise to the top rung of Indian cricket was as fast as it was stunning. Scion of a leading Indian business family, he began his career as an adversary of the Indian cricket board in the early 90s when he was trying to build a business out of distributing sports pay channels. He knew even then that live sports were one of the few things the Indian television consumer would pay for but soon realised the best way to beat the system was to join it. However, it was not until 2005, when he became the youngest vice-president of the BCCI, that he came into prominence,” ESPN noted.
Modi became the driving force of the BCCI’s commercial activities and pushed its revenues over the US$1 billion mark. However, the end came from an unexpected controversy – revelations over the auction of two new IPL franchises – and was swift. Fifteen days after his initial indiscreet tweet Modi was served his suspension notice by the BCCI, ironically moments after an emotional closing ceremony to the 2010 IPL final.
BCCI suspended Modi for being accused of misconduct, indiscipline and financial irregularities in association with the two rigging bids over the two new franchises, Pune Warriors and Kochi Tuskers. BCCI launched an investigation against him and banned him for life in 2013 after a committee found him guilty of these charges.
He has since lived out of London, United Kingdom, and given several interviews claiming innocence on all charges raised by the BCCI. A special court in Mumbai had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Lalit Modi in 2015 for his alleged involvement in a money-laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Lalit Modi’s first wife
Earlier Lalit Modi was married to Minal Modi, who passed away battling cancer aged 64 in 2018. Minal had two children with Modi. The couple had a daughter named Aliya and a son named Ruchir.
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