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The founder of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Lalit Modi, shocked one and all on Thursday as he shared pictures of his holiday with his 'better half', none other than former Miss Universe and Bollywood star Sushmita Sen.
It was completely unexpected for people on Twitter who couldn't believe this jaw-dropping news. Modi and Sen were seen together quite a few times when the former was still part of the IPL. But no one could have envisaged the duo dating each other.
Here's what he posted on his social media account with the caption:
"Just back in london after a whirling global tour #maldives # sardinia with the families - not to mention my #betterhalf @sushmitasen47 - a new beginning a new life finally. Over the moon."
Modi also expressed his desire to get married to the beauty queen in a separate tweet, captioning it:
"Just for clarity. Not married - just dating each other. That too it will happen one day."
Fans of both the cricketing fraternity as well as those following Bollywood were shocked to learn the two were dating. Here are some of the reactions:
Why is Lalit Modi not seen around the IPL setup now?
Having a franchise league in India where cricketing stars from all over the world would play the game was something that Lalit Modi had always dreamt about. India's T20 World Cup win in 2007 brought the craze for the shortest format into the country, which proved to be the catalyst for the IPL.
The former BCCI vice-president became the first chairman of the IPL in its inaugural edition in 2008. Despite its grand success, the league was sometimes marred by off-field controversies.
One such controversy, which Modi was a part of, was the 'MSM and WSG scam'. The rights for screening the IPL were up for grabs in 2008 and both MSM and WSG were keen to bag it.
However, WSG claimed the rights as MSM were a bit late in their bid. Instead of ending the matter by turning down MSM, Modi told the company that WSG was willing to hand over the rights to them if they paid a reported INR 425 crore.
MSM paid INR 125 crore as an advance but later found out that no such agreement existed. The BCCI suspended Modi for making a verbal agreement on behalf of the board and in 2015, a non-bailable arrest warrant was issued. However, Modi fled to London and has since not returned to India.
