BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia rules out IPL expansion for now

BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said the board has not discussed the expansion for the 2028 season. | Photo Credit: PTI

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

While there is a lot of interest around IPL in the global cricket market, Saikia said that there is “no scope” for an expansion as of now.

“We have neither discussed formally nor informally the possibility of the 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 concerned about the IPL of 2027, which is going to be the 20th edition of the IPL. So it will be a big affair. We are concerned about that and we are not considering anything beyond that,” Saikia added.

“Whatever news is circulating in the media, I think these are all speculative reports from some fertile minds. I have no comments to offer regarding those. There is no sanctity to those reports,” he clarified.

He also said that no call has been taken on the increase of team purse from Rs. 125 crore to Rs. 150 crore before the 2027 mega auction.

“There is nothing of that sort regarding an increase in the salary purse. The mega auction will be sometime next year. This time it will not be a mega auction. Our auction is going to take place on December 16, which will be the last year of the cycle. Thereafter, we will take a call,” he said.

Saikia declined to react to Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner and Bollywood star Juhi Chawla’s recent comment on X, proposing a January window for IPL instead of the current April-May slot.

“We are concerned about hosting the 2027 IPL, which is going to start in March 2027. That’s all,” he concluded.