New Delhi: Cricket Australia (CA) has confirmed that it is open to hosting Indian Premier League (IPL) matches in the country. CA is exploring the possibility
amid strengthening commercial ties between India and Australia. This comes a week after CA confirmed that the opening game of the upcoming Big Bash League (BBL) season will be played in Chennai this year.
The opening match of BBL 2026-27 between Melbourne Renegades and Perth Scorchers will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The game will mark the first-ever BBL match to be played outside Australia. The decision has been taken by Cricket Australia to expand BBL’s viewership in India.
The move is also seen as a big step towards strengthening the ties between India and Australia, who are two of the powerhouses in world cricket at present. A Cricket Australia spokesperson said that the board is looking forward to showcasing the Big Bash League to Indian audiences, while acknowledging India’s growing influence in world cricket.
“Australian Cricket works collaboratively with all our ICC partners, including India, for the good of the game. We acknowledge the strong economic impact India has on cricket and how the Indian team’s touring schedule, particularly, benefits other ICC member nations through increased broadcast revenue,” the CA spokesperson was quoted as saying by India Today.
“We are very pleased to be showcasing the BBL to Indian audiences and don’t rule out the possibility of an IPL or Indian bilateral game being played in Australia at some stage,” he added.
Will Ashes be played in India?
The Cricket Australia spokesperson also cleared the air on the Ashes between England and Australia being played in India next year. The speculation over an Ashes Test being played in India intensified after Cricket Australia’s chief executive Todd Greenberg said on a BBC podcast that the board would be open to the idea of staging the 150th anniversary Ashes Test in India next year.
However, Cricket Australia’s spokesperson clarified that the board has no such plans as of now and the series will be played in England or Australia as per tradition. “The idea of playing an Ashes Test was raised by a podcast interviewer, and there are no plans in place to do so,” he said.
Earlier, former England captain Michael Atherton had criticised the idea of hosting an Ashes Test in India, stating that commercial considerations should not come at the cost of affecting one of cricket’s greatest rivalries. He said the Ashes should remain an England-Australia affair, explaining that hosting an Ashes Test in India would dilute the ‘rich tradition’ of the series.
