No decision on number of IPL matches yet

The IPL Governing Council has not taken a decision on the format of the 2011 tournament, instead devoting its meeting in Mumbai on Friday to examine the league's accounts for 2009-10. It was widely expected that the governing council would consider proposals to shorten next year's tournament from the current 94 games but that seems to have been left for a future meeting.

"Nothing else other than IPL accounts was discussed [at the] meeting," IPL vice-chairman Niranjan Shah told PTI. "There will be another meeting in the first week of September." Shah added that no proposal concerning the number of matches was put forward at the meeting.

The 2009 tournament is understood to have resulted in a deficit of Rs 40 crore for the BCCI, but only after the board distributed Rs 202 crore between 25 state associations, with each association getting at least Rs 6 crore. The deficit was reportedly due to the increase in expenses that resulted from moving the event to South Africa.

The rules and regulations for the 2011 tournament have been up in the air since the suspension of IPL chairman Lalit Modi. The league added two new teams for next year, increasing the total number of matches to be played on a home and away basis from 60 to 94. A longer tournament became a contentious issue after India's poor performance in the World Twenty20 this year, with some suggesting their exit from the tournament was a consequence of a hectic IPL schedule.

At the time, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, a member of the Governing Council, said they could consider reviewing the number of matches for the league next season. However, the franchises are opposed to a shorter tournament not only because playing fewer matches means the tournament will generate less revenue, but also because the original eight franchises agreed to add the two new teams only on the basis of more matches and a larger share of the pie.