PBKS co-owner Ness Wadia proposes two seasons of IPL a year- one in India, one abroad

Wadia feels that a longer IPL tournament is long overdue and 14 matches per team is very few.

Punjab Kings (PBKS) co-owner Ness Wadia has proposed playing two seasons of two months each, every year. He also said that it is much overdue that we get to see a long season of IPL and one half can be hosted in India and another half abroad in different countries.

This comes after BCCI sold the media and digital rights for the Indian Premier League (2023-2027) for a cumulative INR 48,390 crores for a period of five years.

Over the next five years, there is a possibility that the IPL could have as many as 94 games, and BCCI secretary Jay Shah has already said that the tournament will have a dedicated two and a half months in the next ICC's FTP calendar.

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The IPL 2022 also saw the addition of two new teams in the mix, making the IPL a ten-team event.

Speaking to PTI, Wadia congratulated Shah and Co for delivering on an innovative media rights strategy and hoped for a longer season of IPL.

"IPL has taken cricket to the global level. The IPL has provided the spark cricket needed and made it a global sport. It will get even bigger. Having said that, seven matches at home, it is way too less. It should be a minimum of 14. I really see a much longer season which is long overdue.

If you can't have a long season of four months why not look at two seasons, one in India and one in a different country every year. Indians are everywhere around the world. There is huge potential for having many more games," Wadia told PTI.

Asked why the home games need to be doubled, he said: "It is a logical reason. How much are seven matches at home? Too few in my opinion. There has to be a bigger window. In per match value, the IPL is bigger than EPL now, and look at the number of games each team plays there (38)."

The proposed expansion of the IPL and other domestic cricket leagues is already putting a huge strain on the bilateral cricket calendar and experts feel that cricket is going the football way with leagues set to dominate the cricket calendar.

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 He added, "I would say it is already happening. There is no doubt that will eventually happen. The IPL has revived, grown, and globalized cricket. And believe me, it is the tip of the iceberg. The tournament is around for 15 years and the window should have become bigger many years ago. It is long overdue. And it will happen. For how long can you keep the genie in the bottle."

Asked about the viewer fatigue factor with the IPL getting longer: "At some point, we will have to factor in that also. That is where the creativity comes and we can see how leagues are run around the world. We are long away from fatigue at the moment. We will cross the bridge when we get there.”

(PTI inputs)