Mumbai: The IPL does not need the ICC to give it a window, Lalit Modi, Founder, Indian Premier League, has said in a social media post. He argues that the IPL is a domestic tournament owned and operated by the BCCI and the BCCI can decide when to stage it.

He has proposed moving the IPL from the April-May heat, with two alternatives: a January start or a carefully structured October-April competition calendar.

Modi also said that he does not support reviving the Champions League T20, citing governance and conflict-of-interest questions because IPL franchise ownership groups have expanded across several international T20 leagues. Another reason is that it would compete for the same players, broadcasters, sponsors and calendar space.

He said that there seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding about the IPL and the international cricket calendar. He said that international commitments and player releases must be managed, but that is different from seeking permission to exist in a particular part of the calendar.

He said that the IPL is no longer a tournament trying to find its place in world cricket, and world cricket must recognise the place the IPL has already earned.

Modi explains that he created the IPL when many believed it would never work. He said in 2008, India’s movie, television and entertainment industries initially thought they could compete with it, and film releases were postponed, prime-time television was disrupted and entertainment schedules were rewritten.

He said that the IPL did not ask Bollywood for a window, and Bollywood adjusted to the IPL.

He added that others may try to counter-programme it, and they are free to do so, but commercial reality is unforgiving.

He said that the world’s leading cricketers understand where the financial opportunities are, and for many international players, an IPL contract can represent a substantial proportion of their annual cricket earnings. He elaborated that this economic gravity is not going away.

He said the IPL has become to cricket what the English Premier League is to football: a global sporting and commercial powerhouse with the ability to shape the wider ecosystem. He said like the EPL, its strength comes from the product, the clubs, the supporters, the talent and the commercial model, not from asking competing competitions to clear the calendar.

On the Champions League T20, Modi said that he was involved in creating the original Champions League concept, and it made commercial sense in its time. However the world has changed.

He explsins that today, IPL franchise ownership groups have expanded across several international T20 leagues. Therefore the prospect of teams under common ownership competing against each other creates obvious governance and conflict-of-interest questions.

He wrote, “More importantly, why create another tournament competing for the same players, broadcasters, sponsors and increasingly stretched cricket calendar? We don’t need another competition. We need to strengthen the competition that already works.”

On moving the IPL, he said that the objective should be a commercially sustainable expansion, better playing conditions, more valuable broadcasting inventory and a stronger long-term economic foundation for Indian cricket.

He said that the BCCI has the asset, the audience and the commercial strength, and it needs the confidence to use them.

He advised the ICC and other cricket boards to recognise the economic reality and work constructively around it. The IPL he warns cannot be expected to subsidise an outdated global calendar indefinitely.