Rajat Patidar With BCCI officials - (Source:AFP)
After IPL 2026 concluded on Sunday, there is a lot of chatter around IPL chairman Arun Dhumal’s remarks, where he stated that the board is mulling heavy changes for the upcoming edition. New IPL window and tournament expansion were the two changes that caught everyone’s attention.
Speaking to Sportstar, Arun Dhumal remarked that IPL will expand to 94 matches from the 2028 edition and hinted at a new window to tackle rain and excessive heat threat.
Arun Dhumal’s Suggestions For IPL 2027 and Beyond
The IPL expansion hinted at the possibility that each team will play a home and away game, resulting in 18 group stage matches for every participating team from the current 14 matches.
Further, May means scorching heat and possible early onset of monsoon at certain venues. Therefore, Dhumal hinted at a new window in works for IPL 2027 and beyond.
BCCI Secretary Turns Down IPL Expansion Suggestion
In the latest events, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, speaking to Hindustan Times, confirmed that there is no such plan on the table to expand IPL to 94 games from the current 74-match system.
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“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 there is no immediate talk about increasing it. But let’s see how things progress after 2027. Only time will tell," Saikia said on the possibility of IPL matches being increased to 94 from 74.
Devajit Saikia Hints At New Window For IPL 2027
While Saikia turned down the suggestion of a league expansion, the BCCI official confirmed that there is serious thought given to changing the IPL 2027 window. Speaking to the reporters, Saikia hinted that the league might be preponed by two weeks, starting from mid-March. At present, IPL usually begins in the last week of March.
“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. 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," Saikia remarked.
"For the crowd and the fans, it 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."
For the unversed, KKR vs PBKS match was washed out due to rain, a result which proved too costly for both teams going forward in the tournament. Notably, Guwahati hosted 3 matches in IPL 2026 and all were rain induced.
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