The Indian Premier League will likely have 94 games per season, up from the current 74, when the next media rights cycle kicks off from 2028, IPL chairman Arun Dhumal has revealed.
It bears noting that the IPL expanded to 74 games each season in 2022 when two more teams were included — Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Dhumal confirmed the plans the Board of Control for Cricket in India had laid out that the BCCI is looking to put into effect when bids are invited for the next five-year media rights cycle (2028-2032), stating further that discussions are already underway with the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Currently, the IPL table is divided into two groups: A and B. The teams in Group A play 2 matches against each other and one match each against Group B. The idea now is to give the teams a full home-and-away schedule, which will increase the number of games by 20 more in 2028.
Explained the reasoning behind the BCCI’s intentions, Dhumal noted: “Definitely, that might be an opportunity. We’ve been discussing it in the ICC, we’ve been discussing in-house in BCCI. Given how the interest of the fan is changing with regard to bilateral and ICC events, in regard to franchise cricket and T20 cricket, we’ll have to talk more seriously about it and see how we can create maximum value for the stakeholders of the game,” Arun Dhumal said in an interview to the digital cricket platform.
Dhumal said that the organisers eventually want to move to a format where every team plays against each other on a home-and-away basis. For this to happen, 94 games must be played in each IPL season.
“Ideally, we’d want a larger window, or maybe go from 74 to 84 or 94 at some point So that every team gets to play against every team home and away. For that, you need 94 games,” he added.
“Given the window and the kind of commitments that we have with regards to bilateral cricket and ICC events, that may not be possible in the short term. But given the landscape, how it is changing and evolving over the years, maybe at some point in time we would look and take that option,” Dhumal said.
“There’s been so much cricket: we came back from Australia from a Test series, we had this Champions Trophy, and on top of that we have this IPL. That is why it was decided that it doesn’t make sense to go from 74 to 84 [in 2025], but whenever we think that the time is opportune, we’ll take that call,” the IPL chairman concluded.
No increase in IPL team number
Dhumal also confirmed that there are no plans to increase the number of teams in world cricket’s biggest annual tournament.
“Ten is a good number for now. Paramount is the interest in the tournament and the quality of cricket that we play… I don’t see any scope in the short term. Going forward, with how this whole landscape evolves, we’ll take a call accordingly,” said Dhumal.
“Every year, it’s been growing. We are very glad how the fans have loved this tournament, and the broadcast numbers and in-stadia numbers are all phenomenal. We are hoping to carry on with this being a special edition, the 18th edition. We are very sure that it’ll continue to grow in the way we’ve seen over the last 17 years,” he told ESPNcricinfo.
