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Some debates are going on ahead of next season’s Indian Premier League (IPL) on multiple factors. Expansion of the league and a possible shift in the duration are the two major topics that have remained as the hot topics among cricket fans.
To make the franchise league more interesting, it was reported that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had considered arranging the tournament entirely on a home-and-away format. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has made it clear that they are currently more worried about the transforming weather situations.
BCCI to make multiple changes in IPL?
Because of the increased temperature and heat, even during evening times, players and spectators were both affected in the 2026 season. Additionally, the traditional league window covers the pre-monsoon as well.
Because of rain, a match between the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) was washed out at the Eden Gardens without bowling a single delivery. Saikia claims that as of now, their main priority is to make a final decision on presenting a possible shift in the league window.
Increasing temperature has put the officials under pressure
“Last year, there was an extension because of a one-week suspension in between. The only concern we are feeling, and it is in our discussion, is that while the tournament continued till 31st May, some venues are either showing signs of rain or experiencing high temperatures,” the BCCI secretary mentioned while speaking with the Hindustan Times.
To avoid the excess heat and the pre-monsoon season, in the future, the IPL schedule can be brought forward. BCCI officials are thinking of taking it a couple of weeks further.
“We (BCCI) are not taking that issue seriously because, as in previous years, the IPL continued for more than two months. It was two months, two days this year, to be precise. So, we may be exploring ways to bring IPL forward by another 15 days. This year, we started it around March 28. We’ll try to bring IPL a bit ahead of the season, maybe by March 15,” Devajit Saikia mentioned.
“We are working on it and finish and close it by May 15 so that the rigours of the warm weather or the rain will not have any impact on the players as well as the crowd and the fans, which is very important because to watch a match, especially the matches in the hot sun, it is very difficult and very uncomfortable for the fans also because of the high temperature in some of the venues,” he added.
The final decision is yet to be made
He further clarified that they are yet to take the final decision as there are a lot of other factors involved in an Indian Premier League schedule.
“So we are working on it, but I cannot say at this moment that we are taking the matter very seriously to increase it from 74 to 94 because there are a lot of other factors involved. We have to look at the various FTPs and the participation of other countries in bilateral and other multinational tournaments where the ICC is the governing body. So there is no immediate talk about increasing it. But let’s see how things progress after 2027. Only time will tell," he said.
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