Former India all-rounder and head coach Ravi Shastri feels that two IPLs in a year could be the way to go in future, while suggesting the bilateral T20Is be completely scrapped.
The Indian Premier League has been taking giant strides ever since its inception back in 2008, and has grown over the past decade and a half across the 15 editions being played. The tournament is expected to continue growing and gaining popularity, with the media and broadcasting rights for coming years set to escalate even further.
Would that mean an even more demand for the competition with the international calendar being affected even more? Ravi Shastri certainly thinks so.
During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo’s Runorder programme alongside Ian Bishop, Daniel Vettori and Aakash Chopra, Shastri asserted that there’s far too much of bilateral T20I cricket being played, and asked for the shortest version only to be played at the World Cup at the international level.
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“Yes, absolutely, there’s too much of bilateral stuff going on in T20 cricket,” Shastri said. “I’ve said that [before], even when I was the coach of India, I could see it happening in front of my eyes. It should go the football way, where, in T20 cricket, you just play the World Cup. Bilateral tournaments – no one remembers.
“I don’t remember a single game in the last six-seven years as coach of India, barring the World Cup. A team wins the World Cup, they will remember it. Unfortunately, we didn’t, so I don’t remember that either. Where I am coming from is: you play franchise cricket around the globe; each country is allowed to have their franchise cricket, which is their domestic cricket, and then, every two years, you come and play a World Cup.”
Chopra believed that there could be two IPLs played in a year in future, and Shastri echoed with the former India Test opener.
“I actually foresee there might be two editions of the IPL in every calendar year,” Chopra said. “And that’s not too far away.”
“That’s the future,” agreed Shastri. “It could be tomorrow – 140 games, split 70-70. In two seasons. You never know. That’s the way it’s going to go. That’s the way it’s developed as a beast of a property. And you cannot hide away from that.
“You might think that’s overdose, but nothing is overdose in India. I have been sitting outside the bubble, I have been watching people, how they have seen, how they have reviewed these last few months, especially [after coming] out of Covid. And they are loving every bit of it, and they are almost having withdrawal symptoms.”
Vettori and Bishop too, reacted in affirmation, with the former labelling BCCI as an able body to execute the tournament even in a challenging calendar, with players and coaching personnel busy with international cricket and other Global T20 leagues.
“That can easily be sorted with remuneration and another window being carved out, which the BCCI has the power to do,” said the former New Zealand captain.
