Awards night: Modi’s last hurrah

It was a night of mixed emotions for Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi. On one hand, he was proud to have added another feather to the IPL bandwagon in the form of the IPL Awards, which were handed over at a suburban five-star hotel on Friday, reports Amol Karhadkar.

It was a night of mixed emotions for Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi. On one hand, he was proud to have added another feather to the IPL bandwagon in the form of the IPL Awards, which were handed over at a suburban five-star hotel on Friday.

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On the other hand, 11 of his 13 colleagues in the IPL Governing Council skipped the awards ceremony, giving a clear indication of what’s in the offing on Monday’s much-anticipated meeting. Modi was joined by Sunil Gavaskar, a jury member for the awards, and IS Bindra, a staunch Modi supporter, who reac-hed the venue in the second half of the ceremony.

Also missing were the skippers of both the teams that will feature in Sunday’s final - Sachin Tendulkar and M.S. Dhoni. Though it took some of the fizz away from the night, the cricketers made full use of showcasing their “other side” in terms of talent.

Irfan Pathan led the cricketers in walking the ramp alongside the leading ladies from the world of modelling. Ishant Sharma shook a leg with Priyanka Chopra and Mugdha Godse who added an impromptu act by dragging Yuvraj Singh on to the dais.

And just when you thought team owners would take a leaf out of the BCCI officials’ book and leave Modi in the lurch, in walked Kings XI Punjab co-promoter Preity Zinta and Rajasthan Royals co-owners Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra.