‘Best Wishes to All The Boards Starting Their Own Leagues But…’: Arun Dhumal Says IPL Will Remain World’s Top T20 Competition

The 16th edition of the Indian Premier League concluded earlier this week with Chennai Super Kings being crowned champions for a record-equalling fifth time in the T20 tournament’s history. With packed stadiums and record-breaking numbers on streaming, IPL shows no signs of slowing down.

Thanks to the riches on offer, IPL continues to draw top talent from across the globe. However, in recent times, few T20 leagues have been launched which have provided even more options for the players to choose from.

IPL chairman Arun Dhuman doesn’t see other leagues as a threat, in fact, says their league has no competition.

“We don’t see anyone else as our competition, there is none even close to IPL,” Dhumal told Reuters. “Our best wishes to all the boards starting their own T20 leagues, but I don’t think any of them can be a threat to IPL.”

In addition to the Big Bash League (Australia), The Hundred (England), Pakistan Super League, Caribbean Premier League, two more T20 tournaments have been added to the already packed cricket calendar in SA20 (South Africa) and ILT20 (UAE).

JioCinema, IPL’s digital partner, has reported record-breaking numbers through the season including in the finale with a whopping 3.2 crores concurrent viewers at one point.

“It (IPL) has been a phenomenal success, and largely because of the sheer competitiveness of this year’s tournament,” Dhumal said.

“Most of the matches went down to the wire and there were plenty of last-over thrillers. We got a phenomenal response from the fans. Our viewership grew manifold and our broadcast and digital partners both are excited. Even the in-stadia experience of the fans has been phenomenal, and going forward it’s only going to get better,” he added.

The news agency further reported that the number of matches in an IPL season could increase from 74 to 94 provided a larger window is provided to conduct the event. However, there are no plans to expand the number of participating teams as of now.