As the Indian Premier League looks to spread its wings and carve out a bigger window, the Indian Cricket Board is already evaluating the possibility of trimming a few bilateral series. IPL, currently a 74-game tournament, is unable to operate in a full home and away format for all 10 teams.
For the tournament to shift to a complete home and away system, it would need to add 20 more matches, turning the IPL into a 94 game event. IPL commissioner, Arun Dhumal had already suggested in an interview with India Today that the BCCI is keen to expand the league to a 94-game format, and that it is only a matter of time before it happens. Time remains the biggest hurdle in the tournament’s expansion due to the packed international calendar governed by the International Cricket Council. The rise of franchise tournaments across multiple countries has only added to that squeeze.
A BCCI source told PTI that a feasible way of accommodating a 94-game IPL schedule would be to start the tournament in the first week of March instead of the last week. That would create room for additional matches.
The inevitable casualty of this expansion would be bilateral cricket (series between two nations), which could see a reduction in fixtures.
Speaking on the matter, the BCCI source suggested that broadcasters are already losing interest in bilateral cricket due to viewer fatigue, and the board is weighing its options to trim a few such series in the near future.
The source added that from the 2028 season, IPL could begin in early March, although no final call has been taken yet.
“We can’t play 94 games in the current window as the monsoon starts after May. Either we split into two halves or we do it from March first week and have it till May 15. That would be the best window when 94 matches are played.
“We also need to see the feasibility of bilateral series going forward. Every country has their own league, they are not entirely dependent on hosting the India series. So, we need to see the feasibility of bilaterals going forward. The broadcaster is already not seeing value in some of the bilateral series being played. If cricket has to go the soccer way, all boards need to buy into it,” the BCCI source added.
TOO MANY ICC EVENTS
One of the main criticisms of the cricket calendar has been the growing number of ICC events. The ICC now stages one global event every year. Add continental tournaments organised by bodies such as the Asian Cricket Council and the existing bilateral structure, and the schedule only gets more congested.
The BCCI, the most powerful cricket board in the world, is unlikely to compromise on its premier product, the IPL, a tournament around which much of modern cricket’s ecosystem is now built.
Several IPL franchises have already expanded into other T20 leagues across the world as cricket moves closer to a football style franchise model. While that shift still feels some distance away, the comments from the BCCI source suggest that, at least on paper, the board is beginning to think along those lines.
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