‘Dawood Took 3 Hits on Me’: Lalit Modi Reveals Why He Walked Away From Cricket (Watch Video)

Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has made sensational claims about alleged threats from underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, stating that the fear of attacks from the fugitive gangster was one of the biggest reasons behind his exit from cricket administration.

Speaking to ANI, Lalit Modi alleged that his efforts to crack down on match-fixing and illegal betting during the early years of the Indian Premier League (IPL) put him in direct conflict with the D-Company's betting network.

On being asked if he retired from cricket because of Dawood Ibrahim, Modi said, “It is one of the biggest reasons.”

Lalit Modi Claims Dawood Ibrahim Ordered 3 Hits On Him

#WATCH | On being asked if he retired from cricket because of Dawood Ibrahim, IPL founder and first chairman Lalit Modi says, "It is one of the biggest reasons."

He says, "He took three hits at me... Dawood himself said this... He missed three times... The reason was that I… pic.twitter.com/HKYlhdL2o6

— ANI (@ANI) June 4, 2026

Explaining the scale of illegal betting in cricket, Modi claimed, “Dawood Ibrahim is a known bookmaker. He controlled the cricket book. In those days, it used to be USD 2 billion of underground betting. Today, it’s USD 4 billion of underground betting a game. It’s huge. It’s unimaginably huge. Every ball, there’s an odd chance. It’s the Satta Bazaar. Nobody fixes games anymore. You fix overs. You fix the ball.” Lalit Modi Calls for End of ODI Cricket to Save Tests and T20s.

He further alleged that betting syndicates use sophisticated methods to communicate with players and influence specific moments in a match.

“We don’t know what success is. It’s become so sophisticated. Somebody takes out a handkerchief, somebody rubs something the other way, and it’s a sign. Okay, we watch for these signs. We look for these signs,” Modi said. Sushmita Sen Is a ‘True Diamond’: Lalit Modi Shuts Down ‘Gold Digger’ Allegations Against Actress and Rumoured Ex-Girlfriend.

Claiming that he took a tough stance against corruption in cricket, Modi added, “If you look at the first three years when I ran the IPL, there was no fixing. I took a lot of people to task. And I threw a lot of people out of the stadium. I banned a lot of people from coming. It wasn’t liked by the mafia. They offered me hundreds of millions of dollars to look the other way.”

Modi also recounted an alleged late-night meeting in London involving an intermediary known as Baba and claimed that Dawood Ibrahim was contacted via satellite phone.

According to Modi, he refused to engage despite being asked to speak with the fugitive gangster. Recalling the incident, he said, “You are his friend, forget everything, it is all over.”

Making his most explosive allegation, Modi claimed that multiple attempts were made on his life and that his son was abducted in London.

“Bombay police put me on Z-security. I didn’t ask for it. All of a sudden, I had Z-security. There was a shootout outside my house in Bombay. There was a hit for me in Johannesburg. And I’m in Cape Town, which was picked up by the South African government. There was a hit on me in Montenegro, which was picked up at the Croatian border. My son was kidnapped in London on Sloane Street, right there… by a guy called Baba Avin. He lived on Park Street,” Modi claimed.

The former IPL chief further alleged that Dawood Ibrahim had targeted him multiple times, saying, “He took three hits at me.”

The allegations made by Lalit Modi have not been independently verified. Neither Dawood Ibrahim nor any representative of the alleged individuals named by Modi has publicly responded to the claims.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 04, 2026 02:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).