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Former Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi recently opened up on life-threatening threats from underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, saying he walked away from cricket administration to save himself. He highlighted the extortion attempts, assassination plots, and a conversation with the gangster.

Lalit Modi, who has been staying in London for years, left India in 2010 after an investigation was launched against him for alleged financial irregularities. According to him, he was on the hit list of the D-Company, which was forcing him to allow illegal betting.

According to him, one of the most dramatic incidents happened in London in 2012. He was contacted by a fixer, who wanted him to visit an apartment owned by Baba.

The intermediary spoke to Dawood, who wanted to confront the then-famous head of the IPL.

“I pissed in my pants. Without doubt, I want to tell you this,”  Lalit Modi told ANI.

“He said that your work is finished and put down the phone,” he added.

Modi alleged that he got calls from the intermediary, who wanted money and control of a franchise in the IPL. The underworld was upset with Lalit Modi because his decisions had cost them financially in the betting markets.

The hostility towards Modi intensified in the second edition of the IPL in 2009. The tournament was shifted to South Africa due to the general elections in India.

The sudden shift hit the betting market as the bookmakers were confident of the season getting cancelled and took massive wagers based on their information.

“They went after me for moving the IPL to South Africa as they took money, thinking that the league wouldn’t go anywhere, and the season would be cancelled. They lost a lot of money. They wanted their money back. I didn’t tell them to place bets.”

Modi claimed that his tough stance against spot-fixing and bribes further angered the mafia.

He was targeted several times. There was firing outside his residence in Mumbai, and the attack attempts were foiled by the South African government and at the  Croatian border. There was an attempt to kidnap his son in London.

Modi revealed the underworld was happy when he decided to leave cricket. “I didn’t resolve anything. I kept my word to move away from cricket.”

Modi accepted that Dawood Ibrahim was one of the biggest reasons behind his exit from cricket.

Lalit Modi was credited for changing the global cricket economy by launching a league like IPL.

However, his problems started in 2010 when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended Modi for financial irregularities, structural mismanagement, and bid-rigging. He left India before the probe was ordered against him. In 2013, he was banned by the BCCI after an internal inquiry was completed.

Indian agencies were also involved in investigations, but Modi has maintained that his exit from India was due to the Mumbai underworld.