IPL will have an official two-and-a-half month window from next ICC FTP calendar: Jay Shah

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah has said that the Indian Premier League (IPL) will have a two-and-a-half-month window in the International Cricket Council (ICC) ‘s next FTP cycle. The decision was made just a couple of hours after the marquee cricket tournament’s media rights were sold at a phenomenal price.

The intense bidding war for the media rights witnessed Disney+Star renewing its collaboration with the IPL as they successfully won the bid for Package A, which was the TV rights in the Indian subcontinent for a staggering INR 23,575 crore. Meanwhile, the Reliance industries-owned media venture Viacom18 has acquired digital rights in the Indian subcontinent for a whopping INR  20,500 crore.

Jay Shah gives clarity on the IPL’s vision for future

During an exclusive interview with NDTV, Jay Shah was asked about BCCI’s plans to manage the window with the number of IPL matches being reportedly increasing to 94 going forward. In reply, the BCCI secretary said that a discussion regarding the same has already taken place with various boards including the governing body of world cricket ICC.

“That is an aspect we have worked upon. Let me inform you that from the next ICC FTP calendar, IPL will have an official two-and-a-half-month window so that all the top international cricketers can participate. We have had discussions with various boards as well as the ICC”, he said.

IPL 2022 that concluded on May 29 this year witnessed participation from two additional teams- the title-holders Gujarat Titans and the Lucknow Super Giants. As a result of which the number of matches was increased from 60 to 74 (70 league + four knockouts), thereby stretching the duration of the tournament to well over two months.

Usually, the Indian summer (March-May) is when BCCI zeroes in on organizing the IPL, with the 2020 and 2021 editions being exceptional cases due to COVID-19 cases in India. The entire 2020 tournament and the second leg of 2021 were contested in the UAE in the September-October-November window.