The recently concluded IPL has experienced many ups and downs in the last three years of its existence. It has always had some controversy associated with it, be it the offer of players, the exclusion of Pakistani players by owners, one fielder being slapped by another on the field, owners leaving their team, rumors of love affairs. the pitch, match-fixing, people tweeting about IPL secrets, etcetera, etcetera… The list is pretty long.

Lalit Modi, the mastermind behind the ever so popular IPL, has been in the spotlight from the birth of the IPL to his latest stunts and his ouster as IPL Paramount Leader. As soon as he was shown the door, the new IPL boss Chirayu Amin started changing the very face of IPL and making statements about what will and will not happen from IPL Season 4 onwards.

Regardless of what is said and done, IPL has certainly brought the Twenty-twenty format of this game to the forefront and through an Indian initiative, it has managed to gain worldwide success and a massive fan base. The reasons why IPL is so popular could be any of these, the huge amount of money involved, offers from cricketers, support from local celebrities and business tycoons, media coverage, nonstop off-field controversies, the cheerleaders, or maybe the game itself.

IPL managed to bring the kind of fame and name to Lalit Modi that nothing else could have, he says he has seen many ups and downs in his life and the recent clash is but a passing phase. But she must be given credit for all the effort she has put in over the last three years to bring the IPL to the stage it is at today. Only this man had the guts to move the IPL to South Africa and make all the arrangements in such a short time, when overseas players raised fears about security in India after 11/26. Only this man had the guts to take on business tycoons like Mukesh Ambani and Vijay Mallaya to fight to win the cricketer’s bids and continue to wholeheartedly support him when the entire BCCI crowd turned their back on him.

Many hardcore cricket fans call IPL a mockery of cricket, a circus, just a mere business where some people are minting money because a nation is so crazy about this game. But you can say whatever; IPL has provided good cricket action, mind blowing entertainment for all the hardcore cricket fans in India where cricket is nothing less than a religion and Sachin Tendulkar a God.