'We're trying to change the world order'

Lalit Modi could not stop beaming when he, as convenor, announced the launch of the Indian Premier League. But there are still many questions to be answered, many doubts, and not all of them are over the modalities of the league. Can the Board of Control for Cricket in India deliver on its latest promise? He sheds some light on this and other issues in an exclusive interview with Cricinfo's Anand Vasu.

We've been working at this for a long time so the members were already fine-tuned to that. They thought this was the order of the day. We've done a lot of research into this and the members were fully abreast of all this research. The members felt that this is the only way to go forward if we were to revitalise domestic cricket.

It was extremely important because at the end of the day the Indian Premier League needs to feed off players from around the world. We needed a buy-in from all the boards and we also wanted to involve all the boards in the league. That's why it was critical we got everybody on board.

It was an innovative product that everybody liked and understood. It gave all the boards and their players a chance to participate and eventually culminating in the Champions Twenty20 League. There was clear benefit for all boards, their players and the cricketing committee around the world.

That was just because we were going to participate in the ICC World Twenty20. We were required to have a tournament to be able to judge whether we can understand the game and play the game. That was an inter-state tournament which will continue anyway, like the Ranji Trophy or any other domestic competition. You need to have all formats of the game going through the state association system.

As far as the Indian Premier League and the Champions Twenty20 goes, we've been working on things for a couple of years. We announced it in our vision document when Mr Pawar came to power. To put a new system in place and bring in a mindset change takes a while. First and foremost for ourselves to understand the model, secondly, to find out where the model has worked or failed around the world and thirdly to see whether that model could be adapted for our country. Finally we had to work out the parameters, guidelines and rules under which it could work in India. There was no point in discussing it until we ourselves were convinced that this format would work and had a future. I didn't want to pre-empt all this and make any announcements without a business plan, the way forward and a methodology to implement it. To have a plan is fine, but you need to be able to implement it, to give it shape and make it a reality.

Cricket is a very old and traditional game. These traditions are embedded into our systems. This has been the case for decades. We have something new and are trying to put it into reality. We have taken some bold steps. We're going forward and trying to change the world order in that scenario. I think the results will eventually show for themselves.

It's very different first and foremost because we realise the problems that we face in implementing projects. Actually a lot of the projects we have taken up have been implemented. Some have not got the results that have been desired. For the Indian Premier League we've laid down that we need to operate on a corporate basis. We have formed in our structure a virtual company. We have a governing council which has a life of five years and that has eminent people in it. We have office bearers who are fully aware of what needs to be done and what the governing council will do. We are part of the BCCI system and at the same time we will be operating in isolation from that system. There will be a brand new team and infrastructure to implement these things.

It's too premature. We're still working out the financials and the number-crunching in terms of what a franchise would cost and what the pay-back period will be for the franchise. We have to look at it from the franchise's point of view as well, in terms of what the returns will be, what he needs to invest. At the end of the day it has to be a win-win situation for everybody for this to succeed like the English Premier League in soccer. Only when valuations go up and money comes into the system can franchises like this be successful. We're fine-tuning all of that right now. We know which way to head, and what needs to be done. Those business plans will be finalised over the next few weeks.

It is imperative that we do this in grounds across India. A blue-print is being prepared for this in each ground. Keep in mind that the BCCI [this regime] has just started to get serious revenues. We never had the revenues. We signed big deals but the monies are only beginning to come in from this year onwards. The money is going to state associations and every state association is looking at revamping, refurbishing or rebuilding grounds. This is not an overnight strategy and cannot be implemented overnight. It requires time and effort. We know where everybody is headed, and I've seen it for myself. We will have modern stadia all across India.