And after two months of intensive action, Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 concluded with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Winning the tournament for the second consecutive year. As in recent editions, there was no lack of drama. Midway through the tournament, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devjit Saikia stepped in to issue new guidelines after several inappropriate incidents were reported during the 19th edition.
It all started when Rajasthan Royals manager Romi Bhinder used a mobile phone in the dugout during the match against RCB in Guwahati. A few days later, Royals captain Riyan Parag was found vaping in the dressing room. Both men were penalized, but Saikia went a step further and issued an eight-page guidance document warning franchises about potential honey-trapping concerns.
Workload management also became a major discussion topic, with many pundits debating whether players should continue to represent their teams in all 14 league-stage matches despite being eliminated from the playoff race. Yet, amid all the noise, no player has captured the public’s attention like Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Who won the Orange Cap by scoring 776 runs.
As the 19th edition of the T20 tournament gets underway, Hindustan Times spoke to the BCCI Secretary to discuss Suryavanshi’s rise and the challenges of hosting IPL 2026. The tournament began on schedule despite geopolitical tensions in West Asia arising from the conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran.
Saikia also explained why the new guidelines were introduced and answered a burning question: Is social media getting out of control, and is reel culture a matter of concern?
Part:
How do you see the IPL 2026 season overall? There was a lot of discussion on social media about falling television ratings and what not. Were you and the board concerned at any point?
Unlike last year, when the tournament was suspended due to the Pahalgam attack, the entire tournament went off smoothly without any problems. But this year, although in the early stages, there were some fears that the IPL would be impacted due to the ongoing crisis in the Middle East. But that did not happen. Everything went well. And all these social media issues are minor and have no impact on the overall IPL activities. So we’re happy with the way it ended.
And regarding the decline in linear television viewership, we do not have viewership figures for other platforms. Now, if the linear viewership of IPL on television declines slightly, the viewership on digital platforms will increase significantly. Therefore, after getting all the facts and figures, those things will be analyzed.
I don’t think it will have any effect. This has nothing to do with the total viewership and popularity of IPL. And I am very happy that everything went very well, especially till the last day, the last league stage match. No one knew which teams would reach the playoffs. Three teams were lining up to fill the fourth spot, but no one was sure what would happen until the last match was over. So it shows the competitiveness of the IPL, and I’m very happy that except one or two at the bottom of the table, there are very minor differences between the teams.
Otherwise, it was a very competitive IPL, and everyone, especially the fans, are very happy with the recently concluded IPL. If you look at the crowd at the awards ceremony yesterday, everyone was in the stands well before midnight. Therefore, the atmosphere was packed throughout the match and the ceremony, which took place about 45 minutes after the end of the match.
This shows that the intensity of the tournament, as well as the participation of fans on different platforms, in the stands or on the television sets, people are connected to the IPL, and this shows that the IPL is growing day by day and every year it is surpassing the previous year’s record.
As BCCI secretary, you issued an eight-page order to all IPL franchises, warning them about the danger of honey trapping and other concerns. At what point did you realize there was a need to issue guidelines?
When our anti-corruption team found many small issues that could later turn into big controversies, they said that we had to do something right at the beginning. We have to nip this in the bud. Therefore, once we received the situation or brief reports on various violations of IPL protocols, we issued advisories to ensure and prevent any disturbance in the IPL movement. That’s why we released it, and all the teams have responded very well. Yesterday I spoke to our anti-corruption people, and they too were pleased with how that advice worked, and it was a great contribution to the overall running of the tournament, ensuring a friendly, well-structured tournament and adherence to all IPL protocols.
There were also concerns about social media content and the prevalent reel culture during the IPL 2026 season. Were you concerned at any point?
Personally, I don’t bother because you have to keep up with technology and things that are becoming popular on different platforms over time. When IPL started in 2008 or for the next 12, 13 years after that, no one thought about social media or any of these things. But this is the trend now. Therefore, we have to adapt ourselves to this trend. But it does not allow anyone to intrude into team meetings or team activities, or on buses or in areas where other unauthorized persons should not enter. We are just making sure that social media does not cross the line where they are not allowed to travel. So that’s the only thing we are concerned about. Those things will definitely increase, but they will have to follow the IPL protocols.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi emerged as the standout story of the IPL 2026 season. There is a lot of demand to include him in the Indian national men’s team. How do you see his extraordinary rise, and how do you plan to ensure that he always plays to his potential?
Vaibhav is the new wonder kid in Indian cricket, and I am sure he will take the world by storm in the coming days. And all our selectors are part of the IPL tournament. Everyone, all the selectors are watching these matches very closely and in most cases they are also present at the venue. So, looking at the way he has performed, I am sure the selectors will do whatever is necessary and in his best interest in the upcoming selection meetings for the Indian team’s trip to the UK.
Many other players performed very well. But the splendor is extraordinary, and I am so glad that God has been kind, that a new wonder kid has been introduced to the Indian cricket scene at this level, and he will surely cross the borders soon.
Can we expect the number of IPL games to increase to 94 in the coming years?
We are not taking that issue seriously because, like previous years, the IPL lasted for more than two months. To be precise, this year it was two months, two days. Last year the extension was due to a week’s suspension in the middle. The only concern we are feeling, and this is in our discussion, is that while the tournament will continue till May 31, some places are either showing signs of rain or experiencing high temperatures.
Therefore, we will be looking for ways to extend IPL by 15 days. This year, we started it around March 28. We will try to bring IPL a little earlier in the season, maybe by March 15. We are working on this and will close it till May 15 so that the harshness of hot weather or rain does not have any impact on the players as well as the crowd and fans, which is very important because watching a match, especially a match in bright sunlight, is very difficult and very uncomfortable for the fans because of the high temperatures in some of the places. the venue
So we are working on it, but I cannot say at this moment that we are taking the matter of increasing it from 74 to 94 very seriously because there are many other factors involved. We have to look at the participation of other countries in various FTP and bilateral and other multinational tournaments where ICC is the governing body. Therefore, there is no immediate talk about increasing it. But let’s see how things progress after 2027. Only time will tell.
Lastly, there is a lot of discussion about the workload management of players during the IPL. Yes, you had said earlier that BCCI cannot do much about this during the tournament. But is there something that the board would like to work on so that the national side does not suffer from shortage of resources?
Our technical staff, who are in charge of the fitness of the players, and those who are under contract and who are on the fringes of the Indian team. They are well monitored from outside, but are not involved in everyday activities. They are given a general arrangement or general routine on how they should run their fitness program. But the thing is, as I have always told you, we cannot micromanage fitness during these two months when the franchises have control over their players.
But overall, we are monitoring and making sure that things are kept in mind and how to deal with them given the strict two-month period during the IPL. Their schedule is determined by our technical personnel much before the start of the IPL. All individual players who know that they have a chance to represent the country are well aware of what they have to do and what not.
So all their Dos and Don’ts and SOPs are within the ambit of India, and they are following them. So that’s all we can say at this stage.
