BCCI Eyes 94-Match IPL Season by 2028, Confirms IPL Chairman Arun Dhumal

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) might not be rushing to add more teams to the Indian Premier League just yet, but bigger things are definitely brewing. If all goes to plan, the IPL could expand to a massive 94 matches each season starting from 2028.

For those who might have forgotten, the tournament first grew to 74 matches back in 2022 when Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants joined the party. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, IPL chairman Arun Dhumal confirmed that discussions are already underway with the International Cricket Council (ICC) about stretching the IPL season further. The idea is simple: to eventually create a format where every team faces each other both home and away — but to make that happen, the season would need to grow to 94 games. 

As per the IPL's 2022 media rights deal, the plan was to bump up the number of matches to 84 by 2025. But that expansion has been on hold, with the tournament sticking to 74 matches for the fourth year running. That’s pretty cautious compared to what's happening elsewhere — think about how football’s World Cup and Champions League have expanded, or how FIFA’s Club World Cup is jumping from seven to a whopping 63 matches. 

The IPL, though, has always grown carefully. Since its launch in 2008, it’s only gone from 59 games to 74, despite becoming one of the most powerful leagues in world sport. Fun fact: the tournament actually had more games (76) back in 2012 and 2013 during its first big expansion phase. Dhumal explained the thinking behind the slow pace, saying, "Definitely, that might be an opportunity. We've been discussing in ICC, we've been discussing in-house in BCCI. Given how the interest of the fan is changing with regard to bilateral and ICC events, in regard to franchise cricket and T20 cricket, we'll have to talk more seriously about it and see how we can create maximum value for the stakeholders of the game." 

He also hinted at why 2025 didn't see an 84-game season, despite the earlier plans. "There's been so much cricket: we came back from Australia from a Test series, we had this Champions Trophy, and on top of that we have this IPL. That is why it was decided that it doesn't make sense from going from 74 to 84 (in 2025), but whenever we think that the time is opportune, we'll take that call," Dhumal said. So, while there won’t be a huge jump just yet, the IPL’s future looks set to get even bigger — it’s just a matter of when, not if.