'Not in this lifetime': The Hundred's IPL comparison triggers war of words between Lalit Modi and Kevin Pietersen

Lalit Modi has rejected former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen’s claim that The Hundred could become the UK’s version of the Indian Premier League in the next few years, saying no tournament can match the IPL.

Pietersen had written on X that The Hundred “won’t die in 3 years’ time, it’ll become a T20 competition within three years” and added that it could turn into the UK’s version of the IPL.

Responding to this, Modi said, “Not in this lifetime will any T20 tournament will be like the IPL my friend,” and listed six reasons why he believes The Hundred cannot reach that level.

Modi argued that cricket is not the top sport in the UK. “It’s football followed by rugby followed by racing followed by tennis followed by darts,” he said, adding that several factors limit the growth of the tournament.

"Nor the die hard fan base. Nor the population to support it. Nor the advertisers to back it. Nor the Indian players. They will never be allowed".

The exchange follows Modi’s earlier remarks where he said The Hundred would not survive beyond three years. Pietersen disagreed with that view and said the competition would continue, possibly in a T20 format.

In his latest response, Modi said the economics of cricket in the UK would not allow The Hundred to match the IPL. He also said the tournament could at best be similar to SA20.

“So better to see the reality and see it more like a South African T 20 league at best. That to if it’s the only short format in uk then the teams will break even or make a marginal profit. Keep in mind @ECB_cricket bread and butter will continue to be the bilateral games and you all should hope that is the case as short format requires all the above ingredients to get people to pay even pay a fraction of the 35 pounds per month for the football package,” he concluded.

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Modi, who now lives in London and faces charges of financial irregularities and money laundering in India, has repeated that no league can come close to the IPL.