India, May 8 -- Franchise cricket stands on the cusp of a seismic change. The Indian Premier League (IPL) is already the crown jewel of the T20 world but it's about to get bigger than ever. IPL Chairman Arun Dhumal had recently dropped hints of a massive expansion plan that could see the tournament having almost 100 matches in a season from the 2028 edition.

The Return of the True Double Round-Robin

The tournament has been following a virtual grouping system since the league expanded to 10 teams in 2022 with the addition of Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants. This had to be done to stop the calendar exploding, as a normal format where each team plays everyone twice would have been too long for the window we have.

Dhumal's "ideal s...