Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Arun Dhumal has said ‘there is definitely less interest in some bilateral games’ and that they would seek a seat on the table when the Future Tours Programme cycle would be designed post-2027.
Dhumal further argued that for the to move from 74 games at present to 94, and expand to 12 teams from the current 10, they would ‘really need a bigger window’. “It is a limited window between roughly mid-March and the end of May. As soon as June starts, the monsoon approaches the southern part of India, so there is no way you can extend at that point in time,” Dhumal told the Financial Times. :If we try to go from 74 to 94 games in the current window, we will end up having more double-headers. That does not work well for broadcasters. We have to look at their interests too. That is why we have restricted ourselves to 74 games.”
Dhumal added: “When we go into the next cycle of bilaterals, we will try to see whether we can get a bigger window during this period so we can go from 74 to 94 games. That is also why we are not thinking of extending the number of teams right now. With the current number of teams, you can still increase the number of matches. If you add more teams and then calculate home-and-away, it becomes difficult to make it work.”
Dhumal said the reason why countries are coming up with their own leagues — he cited the England and Wales Cricket Board’s The Hundred, Australia’s Big Bash League, the UAE’s International League T20, South Africa’s SA20 and the Caribbean Premier League — is because there is ‘definitely less interest in some bilateral games’.
”If this is the trend, then every country will want fewer bilaterals, or bilaterals that make more financial sense for them, and then there is scope to enlarge the IPL window. We are hoping for more discussions with all the countries and colleagues. If that works out, it should work out for everyone,” he said.
He added that when the International Cricket Council prepares its calendar post-2027 — it is currently locked up to 2027 — ‘we will have discussions’. “The IPL is not only adding value to India and Indian players; it is adding value to world cricket at large. So all these players would want more. Hopefully, when we decide on the next cycle, we will be able to carve out a bigger window so we can extend it beyond 74,” he said.
Asked if that would mean shaving off some of the less-popular bilaterals, Dhumal replied: “There are different possibilities. One is reducing some bilaterals. Another is carving out a window elsewhere. In case we get some windows during September or October, when you have the end of the English season and before the start of the Australian season, then if we have a few days available there, we can extend at that time. So all those possibilities can be worked out and whatever works best, we will do.”
