Lalit Modi, IPL founder, alleges he was coerced into approving a 25% free stake for Sunanda Pushkar in the Kochi Tuskers Kerala franchise, despite no investment in the team. In a 2026 interview, he claims Shashi Tharoor, backed by top Congress leaders, threatened Enforcement Directorate raids if he probed Pushkar’s role, sparking a political storm that led to Tharoor’s 2010 resignation.
INDIAN BUSINESSMAN and founder of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Lalit Modi, dropped some bombshell revelations about Congress leader Shashi Tharoor in an exclusive interview with ANI Editor-in-Chief Smita Prakash on June 4, 2026. Modi revealed that he was under pressure from various political leaders after he questioned the ownership structure of the now-dead Kochi Tuskers Kerala franchise.
Modi emphasised how he was suspicious of the involvement of Sunanda Pushkar, Tharoor's late wife, in the Kochi franchise.
He revealed that Tharoor was backed by Sonia Gandhi at the time. “I got calls from Ahmed Patel and Pranab Mukherjee in those days,” Modi told Prakash. Back in 2010, a controversy came to light after Modi spilled the tea on the ownership structure of the Kochi Tuskers Kerala IPL team on social media. Following the revelation, concerns were raised about whether the consortium was misused by some people in order to receive unfair shares in the franchise.
The issue triggered a political uproar, which eventually led to Tharoor resigning as Minister of State for External Affairs in 2010. Lalit Modi was suspended by the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) on several charges, including misconduct and financial irregularities.
Modi lifted the lid on the matter, saying he was threatened with ED raids by Tharoor when he enquired about Sunanda Pushkar. He further added that he had no idea who Pushkar was at that point in time. The former IPL administrator explained why he was resistant to signing the Kochi IPL team deal due to Pushkar's involvement. He was dubious about Pushkar receiving a 25% ownership stake despite not investing any money in the Kochi franchise.
He continued that he had gone through the ownership documents, where he found that the names of all the investors were present except for Pushkar's. He asked,
You’re giving away 25% shares to a lady called Sunanda Pushkar. Who is she? You’re giving up 15% of the revenue. Who is she?
He recalled asking the other consortium members about what he considered an unfair deal, where “75% of the shareholders are paying 100% of the cost, and someone else is getting 25% free equity.” In the 2010 IPL expansion auction, two cities, Kochi and Pune, won bids and were added to the league's list of franchises.
After Modi started asking about Pushkar's background in the matter, he claimed that he received a call from Tharoor himself, insisting that he not pursue the matter any further. He said, quoting Tharoor, “Lalit, don’t ask about Sunanda Pushkar. She is a good friend of mine.” Modi said he asked why, to which Tharoor allegedly replied,
If you do, I’ll have you raided in the morning.
Modi was fuming over Tharoor's threats and slammed down the phone, stating that he would not sign the deal. He told Smita Prakash that he eventually signed the deal under pressure and, just hours later, discovered who Sunanda Pushkar was through newspaper headlines reporting that Tharoor and Pushkar were getting married.
He stated that the deal was not sustainable and would not work in the long run. The Kochi franchise later collapsed in 2011 and was terminated by the BCCI after playing for just one season.
Sunanda Pushkar was a businesswoman and the wife of Shashi Tharoor. The duo tied the knot in 2010. Just four years after their marriage, Pushkar was found dead at Delhi's New Leela Hotel, where the couple were staying at the time, on January 17, 2014. A day before her death, Pushkar had an argument on Twitter with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar, whom she alleged was having an affair with Tharoor.
Her mysterious death gave rise to several theories at the time, with some linking her untimely demise to Tharoor himself. Initial reports suggested that she had died by suicide, but the post-mortem report concluded that Sunanda Pushkar's death was unnatural. There were also reports stating that physical marks were found on her body. Tharoor was charged in connection with her death in 2018 but was later cleared of all charges in 2021.
[VS]
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