The Indian Premier League (IPL) could potentially expand from existing 74 games to 94 matches in 2028, hinted chairman Arun Dhumal. The development, which is aimed to be implemented two seasons later, is primarily to eliminate the "virtual group" system and bring in the previous home and away double-legged round-robin format.
The IPL started with eight teams in 2008 before Pune Warriors India (PWI) and Kochi Tuskers Kerala joined the bandwagon in 2011. While the Kochi-based franchises lasted just a season, PWI was a part of the cash-rich league for 2011, 2012 and 2013 before withdrawing themselves.
Two more franchises Rising Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions were also a part of IPL in 2016 and 2017 seasons when Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were serving BCCI suspensions. Significantly, no IPL season in the past 18 editions consisted of 94 games.
Despite the increase in the volume of matches, the number of franchises will remain at 10. "With the given set of teams, only we can go for more number of matches," Dhumal was quoted as saying by India Today.
"So it doesn't make sense as of now to increase the number of teams. Because if we have to have an equal number of home and away matches, from 74 we can go up to 94. That would be the ideal situation," he added.
Why BCCI is proposing to increase from 74 to 94 games?
The major aspect of expanding the number of games in IP L is to allow all the teams play each other twice - home and away format - much like in the big football leagues like English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, etc. Notably, IPL was played in a home and away format during his eight team days until 2022. The IPL was expanded to 10 teams when Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants joined the roster.
Having said that, the BCCI will also have to look into scheduling of the games. Under the current scenario, a 74-game tournament takes approximately two months - IPL 2026 started on March 28 and will end on May 31 with the double headers kept for weekends. However, in IPL 2026, not all Saturdays had double headers.
Bigger window needed for IPL
It must be noted that the format of double headers are not liked by the broadcasters due to a split in viewership and lower ad revenue. Not just the IPL scheduling, the biggest hurdle for the BCCI would be to find a bigger window for the tournament.
As a result, the BCCI is expected to negotiate a dedicated two-and-half-months window for a 94-game IPL, thus effectively pausing international cricket. "Since the bilaterals are locked in till 2027, we would need a bigger window to raise the number of games from 74 to 94," Dhumal explained.
"So we are looking for a bigger window post-2027 bilateral cycle. In case we can get that, we will definitely try to have 94 games," he added.