The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly expects the Indian Premier League (IPL) to reach new heights in the coming years following recent success in the media rights auction.
Meanwhile, the cash-rich league bagged ₹48,390 crore across television and digital media sales for the next five-year cycle. The astronomical sum means that the cash-rich league has surpassed several notable sporting leagues around the world in terms of broadcasting.
Speaking to Sportstar, Sourav Ganguly expects the tournament to get better and bigger. He said, “We will work on it for sure and develop overall infrastructure for a better fan experience. A lot of new stadiums have come up, and the infrastructure of cricket in this country is huge.”
“We will redo a few stadiums a bit and bring back IPL with completely different extravaganza and fandom next year,” Ganguly added.
Lauding the IPL 2022’s grand finish after the last two editions saw the playoffs being held in the UAE, Ganguly said:
“The last two years have been affected by COVID and the biggest thing is that despite COVID, we managed to host the tournament and this time, we finished it with great hype in Kolkata and Ahmedabad.”
“IPL has to back to a home-and-away format from next year” – Sourav Ganguly
The last three editions of the league have been confined to a specific and limited number of venues due to safety concerns. The home and away format, which bodes well for the franchises, was last implemented in the 2019 edition.
Noting the importance of bringing back the original format, Ganguly said, “It’s a great tournament and it will continue to thrive. But most importantly, the IPL has to go back to a home-and-away format from next year.”
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