How has Lalit Modi, founder of Indian Premier League (IPL), recently opened Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) was not being acquired at one point. Modi, currently located in the UK, praised RCB's recent title win in IPL 2025 and reflected on the surprising installation of the franchise in 2008.
Modi revealed that Vijay Mallya, a fiery businessman and owner of former RCB, had originally planned to be the owner of the Mumbai franchise, but was outbuated by Ambenis. He revealed that he was later received properly by Bengaluru as it was his home city. The founder of the IPL also mentioned that Mallya was the first to be interested in the idea of the league and to support it.
“There is a lot of controversy about my good friend Vijay Mallya. He was the first person to come on the board for the IPL, and he was the one who had already supported anyone from anyone, even without seeing a business model. His first choice was Mumbai, and he was lost in a big auction of just 200,000.
“And RCB is what it is because Mallya made it at that time. It was Mallya's second choice, okay? But the best option for me. If it was some other buyer, it would definitely not have been RCB, and it would have been completely different.
Lalit Modi was very impressed by the pitch done: Vijay Mallya
Modi also talked about Virat Kohli's entry into the league and how the RCB team showed confidence in him for years. According to Modi, Kohli was an uncapulated India which was a player available for a fixed price of USD 10,000 during the first season draft.
“Delhi had the first pick and she did not choose Virat. Vijay Mallya could pass on to her too, but she was a foresight to take her. You understood that Virat was a young player in those days, and no one knew him. When he came to take time to take uncapormed players, it was going to be at a certain cost of India. It was a distance to choose Virat at a certain price of India.
Meanwhile, Mallya, who recently depicted Raj Shamani on a podcast, confirmed Modi's version and reflected in the early days of the IPL bid and explained his inspiration to bid on Bengaluru.
“I was very impressed by the pitch given to Lalit Modi for the BCCI committee about this league. He called me one day and said, okay, the teams are being auctioned. Are you going to buy it? So, I bid with three franchisees, and I lost Mumbai with very little money.
“My vision was to create a team that embodied the spirit of Bangalore-a living, dynamic, glamorous. I paid $ 112 million, the second biggest bid, because I believed in this capacity. I wanted RCB to be a brand, which is not only on the field, but also works.
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