KKR co-owner Juhi Chawla calls for IPL window in January, says league 'Has the Right to Influence Calendar'

IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) co-owner Juhi Chawla wants the league to be played in cooler months, starting in January, instead of the typical March to May window. Writing on X (formerly Twitter), Chawla called out the need to play this tournament in the harshest heat, adding that decision-makers can reconsider rescheduling it earlier in the year.

"The IPL no longer needs to find its place in the cricket calendar. It has earned the right to influence it. Why keep playing the biggest cricket tournament on the planet in the harshest heat? And if the calendar is being reconsidered, why not January instead of April-May? Better conditions. Better cricket. A better experience for everyone overall. The IPL has evolved. Perhaps its calendar should too now!” Chawla wrote.

Besides Chawla, IPL founder Lalit Modi also shares a similar opinion. He said the IPL needs no permission from the ICC, as the BCCI can handle the tournament's logistics. Modi added that instead of the IPL fighting to fit in the cricket calendar, world cricket must recognise the place the IPL has earned.

"The IPL does not need the ICC to give it a window. The IPL is a domestic tournament owned and operated by the BCCI. The BCCI can decide when to stage it," Modi wrote on his social media handles. "Of course, international commitments and player releases must be managed, but that is entirely different from seeking permission to exist in a particular part of the calendar.

Lalit Modi emphasised that international governing bodies must recognise the position the IPL has built over the last decade and a half.

“And here is the bigger point. The IPL is no longer a tournament trying to find its place in world cricket. World cricket must recognise the place the IPL has already earned.”

‘IPL to Cricket is what EPL is to Football’: Modi

Highlighting IPL’s well-earned space and position in world cricket, the tournament’s founder, Lalit Modi, said what IPL is to cricket is what the English Premier League is to world football, with both sitting at the top of their respective sports.

"Now imagine the IPL choosing its own optimal calendar," Modi wrote. "Others may try to counter-programme it. They are free to do so. But commercial reality is a very unforgiving umpire. The world's leading cricketers understand where the financial opportunities are. For many international players, an IPL contract can represent a substantial proportion of their annual cricket earnings. That economic gravity is not going away.

"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. And 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,” he continued.

Meanwhile, several reports have also suggested that the BCCI is contemplating adding two new IPL teams from the 2028 edition, with Pune and Vadodara being the preferred choices. Although still in the discussion stages, the cities could change as the talks advance.