Something pretty significant seems to be happening behind the scenes in Indian cricket right now . BCCI is reportedly exploring cutting down bilateral cricket matches so that IPL can be expanded into a much longer season starting from 2028 . And honestly,this is not small news for how international cricket works globally.
According to one unnamed BCCI official,board wants to seriously assess whether continuing bilateral series even makes sense anymore . Main reason cited is that broadcasters themselves are increasingly questioning value of these matches . When broadcasters start losing interest,money conversation becomes very serious very quickly.
The comparison being drawn here is with football . In football model,club competitions like Premier League completely dominate the calendar . International fixtures take back seat,and only truly massive events like FIFA World Cup manage to pull comparable audience numbers . BCCI seems to be thinking cricket should move in similar direction.
Reportedly the proposal involves adding around 20 more matches to IPL schedule . But here is the practical problem — current format simply cannot fit 94 matches before monsoon season arrives . So options being discussed include either splitting season into two halves or running league straight from early April until mid-May.
Few key points from this whole development:
- BCCI official acknowledged viewer fatigue is real concern since cricket events are happening on yearly basis without much breathing room.
- England and Wales Cricket Board has shown just how financially dependent it is on India series for its own profitability.
- ICC expressed concerns just days ago about franchise cricket expansion threatening traditional formats of game.
And this is where things get genuinely complicated for smaller cricket boards.
India might not need bilateral series to survive financially . But many other national cricket boards absolutely depend on hosting matches against India,England,Australia for their revenue . ECB example makes this very clear . If bilateral series shrink or disappear,boards like these face serious financial consequences that cannot be ignored easily .
Honestly,BCCI proposing this shift while ICC is simultaneously raising alarm about franchise cricket expansion — both happening at same time feels like pressure building from multiple directions on traditional international cricket structure .
IPL was always seen as model for this kind of restructuring . People in cricket administration knew for long time that club cricket would eventually challenge international calendar for dominance . What feels different now is that conversation is apparently moving from theory into actual planning stage.
Question that is sitting unanswered here is what happens to bilateral cricket for countries that genuinely need that revenue to function . Not every board has IPL-level financial muscle behind it . And if top teams stop touring smaller nations regularly,what does international cricket even mean for those countries…
Nobody seems to have clean answer to that part yet
