KKR co-owner Juhi Chawla backs Lalit Modi's call for IPL calendar shake-up
Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Juhi Chawla has publicly aligned herself with IPL founder Lalit Modi over his proposal to shift the tournament away from its traditional March-May window. Chawla argued that staging the world's biggest T20 competition in India's harshest summer months no longer makes sense, and that a January start would serve players and fans far better.
Chawla posted her view in response to Modi's own post on social media, which was published on November 9, 2026. In her post, she questioned the logic of keeping the IPL locked into a period of intense heat and put forward the case for an earlier slot in the calendar.
"The IPL no longer needs to find its place in the cricket calendar. It has earned the right to influence it. So 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!," wrote Chawla on X.
The IPL no longer needs to find its place in the cricket calendar. It has earned the right to influence it.
— Juhi Chawla Mehta (@iam_juhi) November 9, 2026
So 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?…
Modi's case for a new IPL window
Modi, who conceived and launched the IPL in 2008 and served as its first chairman, argued that the tournament has grown into a global sporting and commercial force comparable to the English Premier League in football.
"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." Modi said.
Modi outlined two specific alternatives to the current arrangement: a January start, or a structured October-April competition calendar.
"My proposal is to seriously examine moving the IPL from the increasingly punishing April-May heat, with two alternatives: a January start or a carefully structured October-April competition calendar," said Modi.
He also noted that managing international commitments and player releases is a separate matter from needing permission to occupy a particular part of the global schedule.
"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," said Modi.
Modi also cautioned that keeping the existing schedule without reconsideration could prove costly, stating that the writing is already on the wall. He separately compared the IPL's position in cricket to that of the EPL in football, underlining his view that the tournament is powerful enough to shape the wider sporting ecosystem rather than fit around it.
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