New Delhi, March 4 (IANS) Lalit Modi, founder of the Indian Premier League, has lauded International Cricket Council chairman Jay Shah after the record-breaking viewership of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026.

Reposting Jay Shah’s announcement that the tournament had crossed 500 million viewers in India, Modi hailed the achievement and underlined India’s influence in global cricket.

“That’s the power that India brings to the cricket world. An amazing job is being done by you and your team despite countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan trying to hold the game to ransom. I am sure under your leadership, as shown at this World Cup, cricket will only grow globally,' Modi wrote on X.

Modi also predicted increasing strain on the international calendar due to the rise of franchise leagues. “The international level games will continue to come under pressure from domestic leagues like IPL, CPL, Big Bash League, southafrican league; luckily one does not need to worry about the hundred, MLC and others that will die slowly anyway,” he wrote.

Turning his focus to cricket’s Olympic future, Modi added, “But the ICC now is embarking on its most ambitious journey ahead with taking the much-loved sport #cricket onto a global stage – the Olympics in Los Angeles will expose the game to a whole new audience and new generations of children not yet exposed to our game. He also stirred debate with strong remarks about one-day cricket, questioning the relevance of the format, and urged the ICC to do away with the 50-over format.

In perhaps his most striking suggestion, Modi said, "One thing the ICC should examine is whether there is any relevance left to the one-day format.' That’s in my view a format that can be done away and it will free time used to play this tournament, a better thing for players who are overstretched with the number of days they need to play in a year.

"With country duty/ICC tournaments a must appearance and their own domestic tournaments which they need to partake in, and ofcourse, not to forget a tournament no one can even think about MISSING is the only future game in town the IPL for 1. The money they can make. No. 2. the viewership. No 3 it’s competitiveness. The same has evolved in all major sports. Careful consideration to the FTP must address these issues," he concluded.

--IANS

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