As the Indian Premier League (IPL) continue to grow and rise among the world's best sporting leagues, the tournament is set for a major expansion soon, with the number of matches played per season set to rise as the league is set to grow even longer.

For those unversed, the IPL had expanded to a 10-team tournament in 2022, with the number of matches rising from 60 to 74. The tournament is now heading towards another major expansion, which will see the number of matches per season rise by 20 games with a 94-match season in the works when the new media rights cycle kicks off in 2028.

IPL governing council chairman Arun Dhumal confirmed that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are in talks in-house as well as with the International Cricket Council for the tournament to expand by 20 matches and become a 94-match per season affair.

"Definitely, that might be an opportunity,. We've been discussing in ICC, we've been discussing in-house in BCCI. Given how the interest of the fan is changing with regard to bilateral and ICC events, in regard to franchise cricket and T20 cricket, we'll have to talk more seriously about it and see how we can create maximum value for the stakeholders of the game.

"Ideally, we'd want a larger window, or to maybe go on from 74 to 84 or 94 at some point… So that every team gets to play against every team home and away, for that, you need 94 games. Given the window and the kind of commitments that we have with regards to bilateral cricket and ICC events, that may not be possible in the short term. But given the landscape, how it is changing and evolving over the years, maybe at some point in time we would look and take that option," Dhumal told EspnCricinfo.

However, unlike in 2022 when the expansion came through two new teams added, that will not be the case in 2028. This time the number of matches will see a dramatic expansion with the tournament returning to a full home and away format, which was the case till 2021 when the tournament had eight teams.

Currently, each team plays five teams twice (home and away) while four teams (2 at home, 2 away) play just once. The 10 teams are divided into two groups of five teams each. Each team in the same group play each other twice, while playing one team from the other group home and away.

"Ten is a good number for now. Paramount is the interest in the tournament and the quality of cricket that we play… I don't see any scope in the short term. Going forward, with how this whole landscape evolves, we'll take a call accordingly," said Dhumal.

The original plan was for the tournament to expand to 84 matches per season in 2025 but the BCCI decided against it. Dhumal explained it was done due to the hectic schedule that the Indian cricket team has faced over the last few months.

"There's been so much cricket: we came back from Australia from a Test series, we had this Champions Trophy, and on top of that we have this IPL. That is why it was decided that it doesn't make sense from going from 74 to 84 [in 2025], but whenever we think that the time is opportune, we'll take that call," said Dhumal.

While the IPL saw 59 matches each in 2008 and 2009, there were a total of 60 games played in 2010 as well as from 2014 to 2021. However, the tournament has seen 74 matches per season in 2011 and from 2022-2025. The 2012 and 2013 seasons remain the longest IPLs to date, with 76 matches in both seasons as nine teams played the tournament, with all teams playing each other twice in the league stage.

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