Modi denies asking for IPL, CL window

Indian Premier League Chairman Lalit Modi has denied asking for a window for the IPL and the Champions League in the Futures Tour Programme of the ICC, saying there was a natural space for these two events in the calender.

"We have never propagated that we should be part of the Future Tours Programme (FTP) for the IPL or the Champions League because I think there is a natural window for these two events," he said.

"We never asked for one and we are never going to ask for one," he was quoted as saying by the Guardian today.

Modi was recently reported by the IPL website as claiming that the Champions League had been slotted into the FTP but ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat's contradicted him.

"There was a miscommunication as far as I'm concerned," Modi said about the report.

Modi said he was confident that various members of the ICC would sit together to find space for the events like the IPL and Champions League.

"Going forward we will be working along with members and work out a solution in the new FTP which is in discussion," he said.

Asked if more such Twenty20 leagues may prove to be an overkill of the format, Modi disagreed and said instead it would bring more crowds to the other two forms of the game - ODIs and Tests.

"We just finished the review of IPL in South Africa and have found that 70 per cent of the people who watched IPL this year (in South Africa) never watched any form of cricket before. That's an astonishing figure. For a tournament like the IPL to be able to garner new audiences is critical for the growth of cricket," Modi said.

"If we are able to get people to Twenty20 we are only enlarging the pie: you will see them go and watch one-day and Test cricket."

Modi said he could explore foreign venues for IPL games in future as well, and did not rule out England as one of the potential venues.

"Currently we haven't examined the UK yet. We just had a tremendous success in our first season outside of India," he said.

"This actually now opens a whole new area for us and we are now going to be examining games overseas. Where and when will be played is still matter to be debated and studied. The cricketing calendar in England is full so that would have to be taken into account."