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In 2004, then Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje hosted a lavish dinner and the who's who of business, politics and media were invited to the event. But no one had time to spare for the unknown, dark, short man, who had "practically glued himself to Raje" and, as one guest put it, was "vainly trying hard to be noticed". Many of the guests were to later regret not being introduced to this man, for he was Lalit Modi, who would go on to become the all-powerful head of the richest sporting extravaganza in the world, the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Within a short span of four years, Modi transformed from practically a nobody to one of the most powerful men in India's wealthiest sport.

Modi's rise to power has its roots in Nagaur, a district in Rajasthan. It was towards the end of 2004 that Kishore Rungta, then president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA), came to know that a certain Lalit Kumar had become the president of the Nagaur District Cricket Association (NDCA).

Rungta's family had ruled the RCA for years. And he had never heard of Kumar. So, he asked NDCA secretary Rajendra Singh Nandu about the new Nagaur association chief, to which Nandu replied that the new president was his man and Rungta had ''nothing to worry about.'' As it turned out, Rungta had a lot worry about, for '' Nandu's man'' was soon to usurp his position.

By mid-2004, the stage was secretly set for Modi's entry into RCA through the Rajasthan Sports (Registration, Recognition and Regulation of Associations) Ordinance.

Subsequently, the ordinance became an act and was enforced from August 18, 2004. IAS officer Sanjai Dixit, a Modi confidante, was entrusted with the task of drafting the ordinance. Its provisions sealed Rungta's fate in the RCA because the right of the individual members to vote - the secret of Rungta's continued power in the association - was taken away. Now, only the office bearers were allowed to vote for the president.

In February 2005, Modi announced his candidature against Rungta in the RCA elections and it was then that the latter came to know that the NDCA's Lalit Kumar was, in fact, Modi.

Modi won the polls, ending the Rungtas' 40-year domination of the RCA, and Dixit became the elected secretary.

After his election in the RCA, Modi was also given voting rights in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

After his election as the RCA president and then the BCCI’s vice-president, Modi rose to become the most powerful cricket personality of the country as the IPL commissioner, his two successive defeats in later RCA elections notwithstanding.

He was first defeated by his one-time crony Dixit. The Modi camp successfully staged a coup against Dixit within less than a year, forcing fresh elections.

However, this time, Union minister CP Joshi humbled Modi and Dixit was elected the secretary of the RCA.