IPL may copy NBA model next year

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

NEW DELHI: The Indian Premier League (IPL) looks set for a drastic change in format next season, with teams likely to be divided into two groups to prevent cramming too many matches in too few days.

With 10 teams instead of the current eight, continuing with the current format would have meant playing 94 matches instead of the current 60, a prospect that was giving organisers the jitters, given the fact that the tournament would still have to be restricted to about seven weeks.

To get over this problem, BCCI bigwigs have informally discussed two alternative two-group formats for the league stage in their last meeting on May 17 and sources said the board would discuss the issue with the IPL's governing council in June.

One suggestion is to split the 10 teams into two groups, each of which will follow the current home-and-away round-robin system. The top three teams from each group would then advance to a Super Six stage, where each team will play the three teams from the other group, at home and away, to determine the semi-finalists.

This would keep the total number of matches to a manageable 62. There is, however, a huge downside, which is making the proposal unattractive to franchisees -- the four teams which do not advance to the Super Six stage end up playing just eight league matches and just four at home.

The other proposal deals with this downside by drawing upon the National Basketball Association (NBA) model, which has a format that ensures all teams play each other in the league phase despite having divisions. The 10 teams would still be broken up into two groups. However, while each team would play the other four in its group twice, once at home and once away, it would also play each team from the other group once. The top four teams at the end of this process would then advance to the semifinals.

Thus each team would get a minimum of 13 matches, even if it does not go beyond the league stage. Also, every team would play every other team at least once, thereby doing away with the possibility of two popular teams never clashing, a scenario that the organisers and broadcasters would clearly like to avoid.

The five matches of each team with those from the other group, the proposal suggests, could either consist of two home matches, two away matches and one on a neutral ground or three home matches and two away matches in one year followed by two home matches and three away in the next year.

If either of these proposals is accepted by the IPL governing council, it will be put up for the franchisees to discuss followed by ratification at the BCCI's working committee.

If everything falls into place, IMG, which has been involved in conceptualising and running the IPL, will be forced to work on a league structure that could suit a 52-day window next year.

Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, an IPL governing council member, had told Times Now recently, "We can look at this (the problem of too many matches in too little time) and see how we can reduce matches. I think there is a need perhaps to review that. But it will be very difficult now to reduce the number of teams.

IPL format may change next year, may copy NBA model, Times of India

 

[Params7]

Anything, but please not 90 matches.

 

[harrisb]

i don't think a 'Super 6' idea would be the best scenario, it sounds a bit confusing, and for a cricket fan to sit down and watch it, he/she wants to know what is going on, if the teams are all in a league of 6, but only play 3 of those 6 teams, it will just be too much for somebody to get their head around while still enjoying the match.

I think they have to reduce the number of matches, maybe just have each team play each other once, instead of home and away, that way you have 45 round-robin matches, with 2 semi's, a 3rd/4th and a final, all in all 49 matches i think. less than it is currently, and a lot easier to fit into the 52-day timetable, one match per day, a day inbetween the round robin stage, and one between the semi-finals and the 3rd/4th play-off.

I don't see how they can reduce the number of teams, there are too many players who want to play in the IPL because of the high salaries, so cutting the teams would mean cutting the players and that would cause the league to become unpopular amongst groups of fans because their favourite player may not be playing, therefore the IPL would lose money because of a lack of commercial income.

 

[sifter132]

I think they should just play each other once, forget the home and away stuff. That'd be 9 games and maybe add 1 extra game against your closest neighbour and try to set up a rivalry that would mean something each time there was a game.

That'd give you 10 games, 5 home and 5 away and you'd be able to give the players an extra day of rest due to less games being played. If they wanted to have a Super Six stage or something like that it would be possible because of the lower number of preliminary games.

 

[sohum]

If they go with the NBA round-robin stage, they must go with a knockout format in the second round. Since there are only 10 teams, that means straight to semis. I wouldn't mind the structure at all.

Although with the NBA, there is no rigidity on how many games you play against each team each year (probably because there are 30 teams). Usually, you play each team in your conference 3/4 games and each team in the other conference 2/3 games.

 

[Insomniac]

If they go with the NBA round-robin stage, they must go with a knockout format in the second round. Since there are only 10 teams, that means straight to semis. I wouldn't mind the structure at all.

Although with the NBA, there is no rigidity on how many games you play against each team each year (probably because there are 30 teams). Usually, you play each team in your conference 3/4 games and each team in the other conference 2/3 games.

And we're gonna have best of 7 finals...

God help us all.

 

[sohum]

And we're gonna have best of 7 finals...

God help us all.

That's obviously not going to happen. The NBA playoffs typically last about 5-6 weeks (about 1.5 weeks a round). Going by a similar schedule, the whole IPL would end up being just the playoffs.

 

[pcfan123]

NBA playoffs are forever, seriously hate 7 game series

 

[Prithvi]

For me, simplest thing I can say is:
1) Make it 2 groups with 5 teams each and let them play each other 2 times.
2) The toppers of each group will face off in a final.

This would be good system IMO, which will not make any team play less game or more games, unless they qualify for the finals. If they want a third team for CLT20, competition between the teams standing second from both the tables can face off for the third team.