BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia With Sanjiv Goenka Harsh Goenka. Image Credits: AFP/X
A close aide of LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka has made a desperate plea to the BCCI on social media to save the IPL in the aftermath of a decrease in viewership of the 2026 season.
The IPL 2026 season began on March 28, and with the season crossing the halfway stage, the viewership has apparently not been up to the mark, which has raised concerns among team owners.
Harsh Goenka calls for urgent BCCI intervention in the IPL
That being said, LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka’s brother, Harsh Goenka, who leads RPG Enterprise, made an urgent plea to the BCCI on social media. He claimed the viewership of the IPL 2026 season is down by 26%, which is an alarming sign.
Goenka feels the tournament is slowly drifting too far toward batting dominance at the expense of competitive balance.
The concern about declining TV viewership is particularly important because the IPL’s biggest strength has always been uncertainty and drama, not merely high scores. A match where 160 is defendable can often create more tension than repeated 230-plus totals.
Interestingly, Harsh Goenka also suggested a few countermeasures. He said the BCCI must provide balanced pitches and also review the impact player rule. Harsh Goenka was also involved with the Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) franchise that stayed in the IPL for 2 years when CSK and RR were banned in IPL 2016 and IPL 2017.
So the real challenge for the BCCI here is finding balance rather than completely reversing the batting-friendly trend.
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BCCI to review the impact player rule soon
Having said that, Harsh Goenka’s plea might be heard by the BCCI soon, as secretary Devajit Saikia recently confirmed that the impact player rule will be reviewed after IPL 2026.
"This discussion on the rule has been going on for the last two years. We will review it after this tournament is over, and in the middle of the tournament, we cannot take any calls,” Saikia said.
The rule, which allows teams to effectively use an extra specialist batter while batting and then swap that player for a bowler later, has been actively criticised by fans and critics.
Critics argue that the impact player rule weakens balance and especially hurts the value of all-rounders because franchises can now simulate balance through substitutions instead of relying on multi-skill cricketers.
BCCI defends the high-scoring trend in IPL
That being said, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia also defended the criticism of high-scoring games in IPL 2026. In a season where 220-240 scores are chased comfortably, fans feel the league is losing its charm as the balance is lost.
However, Saikia said the tournament has had enough low-scoring games as well. It’s more of a package where fans get to enjoy high-scoring entertainment as well as low-scoring thrillers.
"Some low-scoring matches are also there. All the fans are enjoying the matches. The bowlers are getting good wickets as well. Some teams are scoring very low totals, too, if you look at the overall scorecards, and some teams are chasing 260 also. Everything is happening, it is a full bouquet in one package," he added.
But critics are not convinced, as people like Harsh Goenka still believe the high-scoring games trend is not the right way forward.
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