‘It was all scripted’ – Lalit Modi opens up on secrets behind off-field controversies in the IPL

Former Indian Premier League (IPL) Chair Lalit Modi has revealed that the majority of off-field controversies that happen during the tournament are scripted. 

In an interview, Modi stated that the IPL management would intentionally plant news in the media to generate hype if the viewership rating fell. 

“When I had the staff there, when I had the politicians there, when I had the people out there, it was all scripted. It was never intended to be by chance. It was always, if the ratings were going down, we would script a controversy and make it look like a controversy that happened on its own, but it was scripted,” Lalit Modi said on Humans of Bombay podcast.

When asked to provide an example of such planting of news, Modi revealed that he was the one who shared news of a South African captain having an affair with a cheerleader. This generated a lot of interest amongst the masses in India, which drastically improved the tournament’s ratings. 

“One cricket player who happened to be a captain of South Africa had an affair with a cheerleader. I learned about it. We leaked it to the media because we wanted that scandal. He went on to marry that cheerleader. That was amazing. But we scripted it to leak. We didn’t script it to happen. Well, focus shifted there. Ratings shifted. We saw a huge spike. The number one pillar of IPL was controversy,” Lalit Modi added. 

Off-field controversies also took centre stage during the 2026 IPL season. These include the case of the Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag and Punjab Kings spinner Yuzvendra Chahal being caught vaping in the dressing room and on a flight, respectively.

Another controversy involving PBKS saw Arshdeep Singh at the forefront due to his heavy use of social media and making remarks on Tilak Varma. The franchise had to put a temporary ban on his vlogging during the IPL to keep things in check.