IPL to have a two-and-a-half month window in ICC's next FTP cycle: Jay Shah

IPL's media rights has not surprised BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who asserted that cricket's most talked about T20 league has potential to deliver way more. In an exclusive interview with PTI, the 33-year-old Shah spoke on a range of subjects related to Indian cricket, IPL's place in the global cricket calendar, running the cricket establishment in times of COVID-19 and the road ahead for both Indian cricket and IPL.

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The BCCI on Tuesday reaffirmed its status as a cricketing behemoth by securing one of the biggest broadcast deals in the history of the sport, fetching an eye-popping 48,390 crore ($6.20 billion) through IPL media rights for a five-year period, starting 2023.

Excerpts:Were you surprised by the intense bidding for IPL media rights or was it on expected lines?I am really happy with the kind of numbers that we have achieved. This shows the phenomenal growth potential of Indian cricket. The auction was always going to be exciting for every stakeholder. We have been able to realise the true value and the numbers in-front of you, is a testimony to that. These numbers show the potential of the Indian economy and the faith of investors in new India. The digital India push has changed the way cricket is watched in India. So the bid outcome of digital rights bears testimony to that. Were there any apprehensions in the BCCI when it was decided to scale up the cumulative base price of media rights in excess of Rs 32,500 crore when the winning bid during the last media rights auction was almost half (16,347.50 crore) of it ?No, the BCCI never felt that the base price was too high. You need to understand that in 2018, it was