Bangalore franchise was not Mallya's first choice - Lalit Modi

Lalit Modi hailed Royal Challengers Bengaluru's triumph in IPL 18 and revealed that the franchise almost didn't come into existence. According to the IPL's founder and former chairman, Vijay Mallya wanted the Mumbai franchise initially, while Virat Kohli was not the first-choice for the Delhi team.

"There is a lot of controversy about my good friend Vijay Mallya. He was the first person to have come on board for the IPL, and he was the one who blindly endorsed it before anybody, without even looking at a business model," Modi revealed to Cricbuzz. Both Modi and Mallya are currently based in the UK.

"His first choice was Mumbai, and he lost it by just USD 200,000 in the big auction. He got Bangalore (now Bengaluru), and rightfully so, because it is his birth city, home city, and it is where he came from. And RCB is what it is because Mallya made it at that time. It was Mallya's second choice, right? But the best choice for me.

"If it had been some other buyer, it definitely would not have been RCB, and it would have been something totally different. But nevertheless, as we sit here today, Vijay Mallya had the foresight and the understanding to get, number one, the Bangalore team."

Modi, credited with bringing millions and billions into BCCI coffers before falling afoul with its leadership, further revealed that Mallya chose Kohli, while the Delhi franchise (then Delhi Daredevils) did not select him. "You've got to understand Virat was a young player in those days, and nobody knew him. When the time came to pick the uncapped players, this was the India A team, and they were going at a fixed price of USD 10,000. Delhi had the first pick. They didn't pick Virat.

"Vijay Mallya could have also let him go and he could have gone to somebody else, but he had the foresight to pick Virat. And Virat made it his home base. And today, 18 years later, Virat and his team have conquered the IPL and won the IPL." Kohli is the all-time highest scorer in the IPL with multiple batting records.

He also debunked the notion that foreign boards could lure Indian players by onboarding the IPL owners in their T20 leagues. Additionally, he dismissed the rumours that Saudi Riyals would succeed in enticing Indian players away.

"There was an article in the Financial Times the other day where they said the Asian economies think they are far ahead of the Western economies. And they are wrong because the Western economies are still far ahead of the Asian economies. Except for one thing, and only one thing: the IPL.

"It is ahead of the rest of the world in every field, in every sport, in every business, in every company. And that's a great testament to what we have created here, the IPL. Only because of the fans of India and their love for cricket. Indians love cricket, but they love Indian cricket more than anything else.

"And let's not forget that an IPL Indian player will only play in the IPL and no other league. It's enshrined in the IPL franchise contract, which many people don't even know. And they keep believing that the Saudi League, this league, the English league, if they have Indian owners, they will have IPL players or Indian players participating in it.

"Only if you are no longer a contracted Indian player of the state or an IPL player or you're retired from all cricket, then you may get a chance to play for one of those teams. But not if you're a current player. It ain't going to happen now. It didn't happen in the past. It's not going to happen in the future."