‘Whatever they say, will happen’: Shahid Afridi says India will continue to influence cricket

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi feels India will have a significant influence and will dominate the decision-making of world cricket going forward, as it has the biggest market for the sport.

Afridi was talking about the recently concluded IPL and the media rights auction for the new five-year cycle on Pakistan news channel Samaa News.

“It all comes down to the market and the economy. The biggest market [for cricket] is India. Whatever they will say will happen,” Afridi said. Players from Pakistan are not allowed to compete in the IPL owing to strained relations between the neighbouring countries.

The comments come in the aftermath of BCCI Secretary Jay Shah suggesting a two-and-a-half-month window for the IPL in the future.

Former Indian batter Akash Chopra recently speculated that two IPLs are on the cards and predicted it could happen five years down the line.

Punjab Kings co-owner Ness Wadia suggested a longer season with 14 home games and the season being broken into two halves.

Last week, IPL broadcasting rights for the 2023-2027 cycle were sold for astronomical prices. While Disney’s Star network retained the TV rights holders for INR 23,575 crore; Viacom18 bagged the digital rights for around INR 23,758 crore. The overall deal was 2.96 times the previous cycle’s media rights.

In a recent comparison between the IPL and the PSL, the per match value of IPL leaped to INR115.4 crore, PSL hit only INR2.76 crore per match in the 2022-23 cycle.

The number of games per season will also increase in the upcoming seasons, with the 2027 season announced to have 94 matches, compared to 60 in the current season.

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