7 home matches too few: The owner of this IPL franchise gave advice to BCCI
Punjab Kings co-owner Ness Wadia feels that the Indian Premier League (IPL) should now be held in two separate halves and the number of matches should also be increased. BCCI has signed a deal worth $6.2 billion in the media rights auction. Notably, BCCI has made almost three times the money as compared to its previous deal. The Richest Cricket Board (BCCI) earned Rs 48390 from e-auction. In the next five years, there is a possibility that there could be 94 games in the IPL and BCCI secretary Jay Shah has already said that the tournament will be two and a half months away from the next ICC FTP calendar.
Speaking to PTI, Wadia congratulated Shah & Co for delivering an innovative media rights strategy, but is hopeful that the IPL will get what it has long expected: “More domestic games and a bigger season. IPL has provided the spark cricket needed and made it a global sport. It will grow even more.”
“Having said that, seven matches at home, that’s too little. It should be a minimum of 14. I see a really long season which is long overdue. If you can’t have a four-month long season So why not watch two seasons every year, one in India and one in a different country. Indians are everywhere around the world. There is a huge potential for many more sports to happen,” Wadia said.
Until last season, when there were eight franchises, teams played 14 games on a home and away basis. This year with 10 teams, the format was changed but one team continued to play 14 games.
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Asked why there is a need to double domestic games, he said: “It is a logical reason. How many are seven matches at home? Very few in my opinion. There should be a bigger window. In price per match, IPL It’s bigger than the EPL now and look at how many games each team plays there (38).”
The IPL is getting a longer window and the rise of other T20 leagues across the world also puts more pressure on bilateral cricket. Some experts have already predicted that cricket is going on like football with the league set to dominate the cricket calendar.
“I would say it is already happening. No doubt it will eventually. IPL has revived, evolved and globalized cricket. And believe me it is just the tip of the iceberg. The tournament has been around for 15 years. And the window should have grown up many years ago. It’s long overdue. And it will happen. How long can you keep a genie in a bottle.”
Asked about spectator fatigue as the IPL gets longer: “At some point, we have to look at that as well. That’s where the creativity comes in and we can see how leagues run around the world. We fatigue. At the moment. When we get there, we will cross the bridge.”
The IPL is getting a longer window and the rise of other T20 leagues across the world also puts more pressure on bilateral cricket. Some experts have already predicted that cricket is going on like football with the league set to dominate the cricket calendar. The upcoming 2022/23 season of the Premier League has 380 matches.
With ANI inputs