BCCI has reservations over IPL expansion plans

NEW DELHI: IPL commissioner Lalit Modi’s plans of expanding the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2011 have been put on hold, for the moment.

The BCCI, at the working committee meeting held during the fourth India-Australia ODI at Mohali, has asked Modi to scrutinise and rework the expansion plans due to a number of “reservations” by board members and the franchisees. The initial plan for 2011 edition is to increase the number of teams to 10 and number of matches to 94, from the existing eight teams and 59 games.

The BCCI members are concerned about Indian players getting injured due to “too much cricket” and also about Indian wickets losing the juice due to over-usage. “They also want to ensure that too much cricket does not lead to fan fatigue,” revealed a BCCI source. Their reasoning is that expanding the IPL would mean more matches, which would result in more injuries.

Modi, when contacted by TOI, denied that he has been asked to put expansion plans on hold. However, he admitted that there are reservations within the BCCI. “It’s untrue (that I have been asked to cap the expansion plans). Yes, some working committee members have reservations but it’s not about the expansion… It’s about the modus-operandi with respect to the expansion. They are not happy with some of the factors in the expansion plan. Therefore, I will review it and present it in the next working committee meeting. Hopefully, there won’t be any more problems regarding it.

“To say that the members have refused to expand is wrong. The proposal to expand was approved at IPL’s governing council meeting held in Mumbai early this year. So the question of not going ahead with the expansion doesn’t arise. As far as I’m concerned the expansion plan remains as it was… I’m going ahead with it.”

Sources told that Modi has also been asked to talk to franchisees about their reservations. Some franchisees don’t want new teams to be added to the existing eight as new teams would “eat into their share of the pie”. “Modi has been asked by the BCCI to talk to the franchisees because they are unhappy about the expansion. The franchisees, especially Mukesh Ambani and Shah Rukh Khan, don’t want to share their profits with new entrants in the IPL. This expansion may happen after 2012, maybe 2013,” said a BCCI source.