IPL founder Lalit Modi has urged ICC Chair Jay Shah to help facilitate an expanded Indian Premier League season beginning in January.
In a social media post tagging Shah, the IPL and the ICC, Modi proposed a full home-and-away format for the ten-team league. That would mean 90 league matches and four playoff games, taking the season to 94 matches, with every team playing each opponent twice and every fan getting to see every opponent at home.
Modi argued that an earlier start would spread fixtures over more weeks, allowing a clearer weekly rhythm, proper breaks and better preparation. He said greater use of India’s winter season deserved serious examination, with conditions assessed venue by venue. He also cautioned that more matches alone did
not guarantee more value, and that quality, audiences, player availability and sensible costs must drive the model.
“His record gives him credibility,” Modi said. “During his tenure as BCCI secretary, the board secured IPL media-rights bids worth more than ₹48,390 crore for 2023–27. He understands how ambition becomes a valuable sporting property. Now he can help secure the calendar for its next phase.”
He gave his own assessment that bilateral and ICC rights income faces downward pressure in the coming cycle, and said the BCCI should prepare now, calling the IPL its principal commercial engine.
Modi acknowledged that January is already occupied by other boards and leagues, whose contracts and interests would need to be addressed. He said any settlement should protect international tours, ICC events, the Women’s Premier League and domestic pathways, give players genuine rest, and offer boards that develop overseas talent fair, negotiated release and development arrangements.
“BCCI and the IPL Governing Council should develop the model. Shah can help build international consensus, respecting his responsibility to the whole game,” Modi said. “Put the January proposal into the current FTP discussions. Use the next IPL rights cycle after 2027 as a planning opportunity, with an agreed transition that honours existing commitments.”
He added that securing the IPL’s next chapter through a fair international calendar could become a defining achievement of Shah’s chairmanship.
