Board of Control for Cricket in India Secretary Anurag Thakur said that after getting a good response to its auction for two new Indian Premier League teams, the Indian cricket board "could look at setting up another T20 league in which new teams could be auctioned in the future," according to Ravi Teja Sharma of the ECONOMIC TIMES.
This new league "could either be played in the window left open by the Champions League T20 that is no longer being played," or the BCCI could even look at a new window. Thakur said, "We are thinking about this, considering the number of people who wanted to own an IPL team." There was talk of a 10-team IPL, but Thakur said that "an eight-team format is the best." Thakur: "If we have 10 teams, we will not be able to fit them in the IPL window and that would also mean more 4pm games that do not bring in the kind of TRP the evening games do and the quality of the game too suffers."
He said that the T20 format "is currently doing very well but there was good traction for one-day internationals as well." During the South Africa series, he said, all T20 and ODI matches "were sold out." Thakur: "The challenge lies in Test cricket. That is where we need to work hard to bring back viewership" (ECONOMIC TIMES, 12/10).
