Lalit Modi to lead Rajasthan board despite BCCI ban

Former Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi, who was banned for life from holding a position in any cricketing body in the country last year, was named president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association on Tuesday.

The flamboyant 50-year-old was found guilty of financial and administrative irregularities during his stint as chairman of the Twenty20 league's first three editions by an Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) disciplinary committee.

Modi, who has denied any wrongdoing, stood for election for as the head of the Rajasthan Cricket Association in a poll conducted in December and the result was announced by a court-appointed observer on Tuesday.

The combative billionaire was vice president of the BCCI from 2005 until September 2010, soon after he had been removed from his position in charge of the IPL.

His election is almost certain to lead to BCCI action against the Rajasthan Cricket Association for allowing Modi back into cricket administration.

Modi has long been the most vocal critic of N Srinivasan, the industrialist who has ran the BCCI since 2011 and will become chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in July.

(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Nick Mulvenney)