Virat Kohli is to cricket what Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are to tennis: IPL chairman Arun Dhumal

Arun Dhumal is a man on the move. After quickly catching forty winks post the thrilling the IPL Qualifier-2 between PBKS and MI in Ahmedabad, the IPL chairman flew down to Mumbai for some meetings and dropped by at the TOI office to chat with reporters.

“What a knock by Shreyas Iyer, so much maturity,” he gushed in between sips of coffee, Dhumal spoke about a range of issues, including the need for bilaterals to revolve around T20 franchise cricket instead of the other way round, Virat Kohli’s impact, why Kohli should reconsider his decision to retire from Tests and how the IPL can beat viewer fatigue.

Excerpts: This has been such an eventful IPL for both on-field and off-field issues and the forced break. Yes. Until game No. 65, we had already come close to achieving last year’s viewership numbers of over 500 million. Despite a break in between. But there has been phenomenal growth. Now, it would have surpassed last year’s numbers for sure. Broadcaster is very happy. The kind of engagement that they have got is phenomenal.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Was there a dip in fan enthusiasm and TV viewership after the break due to Operation Sindoor? Normally, there is a dip in every season especially in the middle phase of the league.

But the kind of response that the stakeholders got in the opening week was phenomenal. By game No. 65, I think they had already got the number of 500 million and they were very happy with that. Though nobody would want a break in momentum, the situation was unavoidable. But the kind of games we had after the break, the interest was back. In other long leagues, like football, players get breaks for internationals which rekindles interest. As the IPL is such a long league, is there scope for players to get a break for international cricket? Will it mean advancing the league? They (football teams) don’t have bilaterals.

We don’t have a window. If we look at it, given the way weather patterns are changing, this window itself is going to be tricky. The months of May and June, it gets extremely hot. I do not know how we can do this because the calendar and window is set till 2027. We need to have a different window to see if we can advance it to Feb after the Australian season gets over. But you also have the SA20 and ILT20.

BCCI enjoys enormous clout and respect globally.

If you put a date out, surely nobody will compete with that window. We do understand that. But we already have fixed the calendar for bilaterals till 2027 and media rights have already been sold according to that. Going forward, you can only plan. But since all the countries are now finding it difficult to sell their media rights for bilaterals, everybody must understand that it is the fan who drives the sport. Usually, other boards used to ask the BCCI to come for a bilateral series to generate income.

But if they are starting their own leagues, then I think cricket’s flavour is changing to the shorter format to franchise cricket. If that be so, we must prepare ourselves for that. Then the entire scheduling must happen around all these T20 leagues. Be it IPL, Big Bash, Hundred, SA20, MLC, ILT20. We need to sit with the stakeholders to take a call as to how and what should be given more importance.

You mean leagues having dedicated windows in the FTP? Yeah.

Fix the league window according to what weather suits your country and then plan bilaterals around them. What are your thoughts on cricket going ahead? Skills wise, do you see a dip among the players? You still have somebody like Sai Sudharsan and playing traditional shots despite the demands of T20. These guys are class apart. They know how to evolve their game given the requirement of the teams. Requirement of the game.

Forget the newcomers. Look at Virat in the last T20 World Cup. How he changed his game to suit the team.

Since you mentioned Kohli, do you fear a reduction in interest among Indian fans in Tests because he was someone who kept Test cricket alive with the way he led and the way he performed? I have no doubt in my mind that Virat is the best brand ambassador, not only for Test cricket but cricket per se. He is to cricket what maybe Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic are to tennis.

So, in that sense, given his fitness level, I still feel that he should reconsider his decision of retiring from Tests. That said, I’m sure there would be someone who would come and fill up the space given the kind of talent that we have.

IPL is a league that needs characters and colour which used to be provided by the West Indian stars. However, lately, there has been a dip in quality even in T20s. West Indies is a difficult board, because West Indies is a collection of different island nations.

It is difficult for them to make one team out of all those different nations. But if we talk about players of other nations, Sri Lankan players are doing better after a dip. Same with South Africa.But quality of cricket has improved, be it Tests or ODIs. We have seen T20 playing a big role in transforming ODIs and Tests. The craze for Test cricket has also grown because of result-oriented games. Players and teams are playing for a win.

We saw the record numbers at the MCG Test last Dec,when India toured Australia. So, T20 is the driving force now... Yes, that is what is getting you the revenue which you are ploughing back into the system, and which is giving you the kind of bench strength that we have now. If you are a Ranji player, you are getting Rs. 60,000 a day now compared to Rs. 10,000 earlier. T20 has helped you to take cricket to newer territories. You have associate countries hosting T20 leagues.

All this is thanks to IPL. It is the No. 1 Make in India brand post independence. What was more challenging, hosting IPL during Covid or restarting this one after a pause post Operation Sindoor? Who's that IPL player?

Covid was a very challenging time because the entire world was shut, and we would like to thank the UAE authorities and government for their support. We had good leadership in Mr. Jay Shah, who made sure that he spoke to all the right people at the right time to ensure that the tournament carries on.

Operation Sindoor was challenging because it happened suddenly. So, there was a logistical challenge, but thanks to our armed forces, they could finish it off in a matter of three, four days and we were able to complete this tournament well in time.

The WTC final was around the corner. It was difficult to have players who were involved in that final for the remaining games. Thankfully, the love and respect that they have for BCCI and IPL, most of them came back. The early monsoon was a logistical challenge too. We had to identify the best venues that so that we don’t have washouts. Do you think the league can get tougher on overrate penalties? Matches are ending almost at midnightThat is always a work in progress with the broadcaster as to how we can make sure that the match ends in time. So, we’ve taken many measures, and we’ve incorporated a few this season also, and hopefully we take a call as to what best can be done to make sure that we can curtail the match well in time. Would docking points for repeat offenders work?

See, the kind of criticism that we get at times for all these things (laughs), we’ll have to be very calculative when we take this (into consideration) so that it doesn’t turn out to be to somebody’s advantage. You may have a tough time convincing the franchises… Yeah, but we must take everyone in that fold so that it is equitable and fair to everyone. And slowly, everyone understands that it is in their interest also. Are we going to 84 matches next year? The challenge would be what is the window available? Ideally, we do not want many double headers because that doesn’t work well, for the broadcaster too. So, in case we get a bigger window, we can think of 84 games. When people keep on asking me, when are you adding new teams, my answer to them is we have not been able to optimize with these 10 teams to play nine home and nine away games. When you are not able to do that, there is no point adding more teams when you don’t have a bigger window.

Ten years down the line, do you see IPL like Premier League where teams get relegated or promoted?

It is a fan who drives the game, not any administrator or cricket board. If the fan decides that cricket must go the soccer way, we might as well start preparing for that world. So, it all eventually depends what format and what else finds best traction with the fans. And as the trend suggests so far, we need to start thinking in terms of deliberation with all the member boards as to what would get them the maximum value, be it bilateral, be it ICC tournaments or franchise cricket.

Accordingly, take a call on whether bilateral should be planned around these T20 leagues or vice-versa. Are we playing Pakistan in the Asia Cup? I’m not sure about that. We are the hosts. There has been no discussion about that. I’m sure when the appropriate time comes and given the situation, the BCCI, ACC, and ICC would take the right call. What is the BCCI’s view on franchise owners behaving discourteously with the players in their team? At times few things get overhyped.

It may not have necessarily happened, but people in social media project it to be like that.

I’m sure all owners are sensible and they know how to deal with their players and they give them lot of respect. So far, it hasn’t come to our notice that any player has been disrespected. If it does, BCCI will take note and make sure that it does whatever is required in the interest of the players. That means sensitising owners? There has been no need for us so far to sensitize them. They are all sensitive people of high dignity