BCCI rules out IPL expansion to 12 teams, refuses to consider idea for January window

BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has ruled out an immediate expansion of the IPL from 10 to 12 teams, insisting the idea has not even been “informally” discussed within the board.

While there is a lot of interest in the IPL in the global cricket market, Saikia said there is “no scope” for expansion at the moment.

“We have not discussed formally or informally the possibility of IPL becoming a 12-team affair in 2028. It is not in our scope at this stage,” Saikia told PTI during an interaction.

“We are worried about 2027 IPL which will be the 20th edition of IPL. So it will be a big deal. We are worried about that and we are not thinking about anything beyond that,” Saikia told PTI.

“Whatever reports are circulating in the media, I think they are all speculative reports from some fertile minds. I have no comment on them. There is no sanctity in these reports,” he clarified.

He also said that no call was taken to increase the team purse from Rs 125 crore to Rs 150 crore ahead of the 2027 mega auction.

“There is nothing like that about a wage increase. There will be a mega-auction sometime next year. This time it will not be a mega-auction. Our auction will be on December 16, which will be the last year of the cycle. We will be in touch after that,” he said.

Saikia refused to respond to Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner a Bollywood star Juhi Chawla’s recent comment on ‘X’which suggests a January window for the IPL instead of the current April-May slot.

“We are concerned about hosting IPL 2027 which will start in March 2027. That’s it,” he concluded.

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