IPL piensa en 94 partidos en 2028, el asiento confirma Suhman Arun Dhumal

The Indian Premier League (IPL) could be set for a major expansion in the coming years. IPL chairman Arun Dhumal has confirmed that the BCCI is seriously considering expanding the tournament from the current 74 matches to a full-fledged 94-match season, possibly starting from 2028.

Hectic IPL coming in?

The IPL had expanded to 74 matches in 2022 by introducing two new franchises — Gujarat Titans (GT) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Initial plans were in place to further grow to 84 matches by 2025. Still, those have been delayed due to a packed international calendar and concerns from broadcasters about scheduling too many double-headers, which could impact viewership.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Dhumal indicated that discussions are ongoing both within the BCCI and at the ICC level regarding the evolving interest of fans toward franchise and T20 cricket, compared to bilateral and ICC tournaments.

“Definitely, that might be an opportunity,” Dhumal said. “We’ve been discussing in 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.“

Near 100 IPL matches feasible?

Dhumal said that a move to a 94-match season would allow each team to play every other team both home and away, creating a balanced competition structure. However, such an expansion would require a larger window in the cricket calendar, likely stretching the IPL to around 11 weeks, compared to the current 9-week window.

“Ideally, we’d want a larger window, or to maybe go on 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.“

The IPL’s existing window in the Future Tours Programme (FTP) is locked until 2027, running from mid-March to the end of May. Any expansion would thus coincide with the next media-rights cycle beginning in 2028.

IPL matches, teams, day games through the years