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"RCB Was His 2nd Option": Lalit Modi Reveals Vijay Mallya's First Choice For IPL

Abhinav Tyagi

RCB and Vijay Mallya - (Source :@Johns/X.com)RCB and Vijay Mallya - (Source :@Johns/X.com)

After years of absence from the limelight, former RCB owner Vijay Mallya made a rare public appearance recently and appeared on Raj Shamani's podcast, where he opened up on the initial days of the IPL and how he built RCB. Mallya eventually bought the defending champions for $112 million, equivalent to around ₹600–700 crore in 2008.

“When I bid for the RCB franchise in 2008, I saw the IPL as a game-changer for Indian cricket. My vision was to create a team that embodied the spirit of Bangalore—vibrant, dynamic, glamorous. I paid $112 million, the second-highest bid, because I believed in the potential," remarked Mallya during the podcast. 

Lalit Modi Spills Bean On Mallya's First-Choice

Interestingly, Lalit Modi, who was the brain behind the Indian Premier League, has heaped praise on his friend Mallya and also spilled few beans. The former IPL chairman revealed that Bengaluru was never Mallya's first-choice, but the former RCB owner was interested in owning a franchise from Mumbai, but was outbid by the Ambani's, who eventually built Mumbai Indians.

"There is a lot of controversy about my good friend Vijay Mallya. He was the first person to have come on board for the IPL, and he was the one who blindly endorsed it before anybody, without even looking at a business model. His first choice was Mumbai, and he lost it by just USD 200,000 in the big auction. He got Bangalore (now Bengaluru), and rightfully so, because it is his birth city, home city, and it is where he came from," Lalit Modi remarked.

Modi Praises Mallya's Vision In The Early Days Of IPL

Modi was all but praise for Vijay Mallya and he remarked that the former RCB owner was the first person who believed in his idea of having the IPL and fully backed the concept. Further, Lalit praised Vijay's vision back in 2008 as he had a key role in the decision to pick Virat Kohli for RCB, which eventually, turned out to be the best decision in the history of the league.