Former Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi has strongly rejected claims made by former IPL Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sundar Raman about the origin of the IPL player auction system. He said Raman was not even part of the setup when the auction format was created in late 2007.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Modi said, “Absolute nonsense. @ramansundar was not even hired by me when I put and designed the Auction system”.
Modi pointed to the rollout of the franchise prospectus in the last quarter of 2007 and the sale of teams on January 24, 2008, to underline that the idea was entirely his. “The franchise prospectus went out in the last quarter 2007 – the teams were sold on 24th January. I am shocked that he and everyone else are starting to take credit,” he added.
He also mocked these claims, saying they are driven by FOMO (fear of missing out) and used laughter emojis to dismiss attempts by Raman and others to take credit for the IPL’s early structure.
Absolute nonsense. @ramansundar was not even hired by me when I put and designed the Auction system. The franchise prospectus went out in last quarter 2007 – the teams were sold on 24th January. I am shocked that he and everyone else are starting to take credit. 🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂.…
— Lalit Kumar Modi (@LalitKModi) April 8, 2026
Sundar Raman recalls ‘tea-time’ discussion behind auction idea
In a June 2020 interview on the podcast “22 Yarns with Gaurav Kapur,” Raman had shared a very different version of how the auction began. He said the idea came up casually during a discussion while the team was busy handling several other tasks ahead of the first IPL season in 2008.
“The player auction almost came as a part of an evening tea conversation while we were doing a thousand other things. We had sold the franchises, we had the venues confirmed, now it was left to on how do we get the players rostered into different teams,” Raman said during the show.
He explained that the auction system was more of a collaborative and informal idea rather than something that had been planned in advance.
“The only thing sure was the marquee players, who were assigned to a set of franchises. There was Sachin Tendulkar for Mumbai, Virender Sehwag for Delhi, Yuvraj Singh for Punjab, Sourav Ganguly for Kolkata. But MS Dhoni was without a home,” Raman said.
Lalit Modi dismisses talk of IPL losing buzz
Meanwhile, Modi also dismissed recent claims that the IPL is losing its popularity this season. He said such talk is based on misinformation and not facts.
“There’s also a lot of misinformation being spread, particularly by platforms like Dream11 and others, trying to create pressure by suggesting that things aren’t going well because of online factors. That’s absolute nonsense.”
He linked this narrative to recent regulatory action against betting platforms. “The reality is that betting companies are being blocked, and that’s impacting them.”
Modi added that this has led to attempts to influence how people see the league’s performance.
Referring to recent controversies, he said, “If you look at recent incidents, like what happened with Sanjeev Goenka being targeted, it’s clear how narratives are being twisted.”
Although he admitted he has not been at stadiums to see things firsthand, Modi said there is no solid proof that interest has dropped.
“As far as the on-ground aspect is concerned, I wouldn’t really know – I would have to be there. Online, it might not seem like there’s a lot of buzz, but I’m not sure what the situation is on the ground,” he said.