Last Updated on 32 minutes ago by Charbel Coorey
Sanjog Gupta, chief executive of the ICC, believes the days of organising bilateral cricket without a clear purpose should be over. He has stressed the need for the international game to have context, cultural relevance, meaningful competition and competitive balance to remain sustainable for cricket boards.
Gupta’s comments have come at a critical time for international cricket as the ICC is currently working on finalising the Future Tours Programme for 2027 to 2031. The ICC are set to hold meetings in Hong Kong later this year to discuss the issue. The current men’s FTP will run through to April 2027.
Sanjog Gupta: “Randomly scheduled bilateral series has to come to an end”
Gupta assumed the role of ICC CEO on July 7, 2025, becoming the seventh individual to serve in that position. Speaking to Cricinfo, he said, “The era of randomly scheduled bilateral series has to come to an end, because countries will not be able to sustain cricket without context, culture, competition and competitiveness, which require significant investment of resources, both financial and non-financial.”
Gupta also discussed the need to keep ODI cricket relevant with the format facing increasing competition from T20 leagues around the world.
Franchise leagues have continued to attract players and audiences to T20 cricket, while the World Test Championship has given Test cricket a defined structure and more context.
ODI cricket, meanwhile, has faced questions about the relevance of bilateral series outside the big tournaments. Scotland and Canada recently played the 5,000th ODI in Dundee, underlining the long-standing place of the format in international cricket. The next ODI World Cup will be hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia in October and November 2027.
“It is important to keep our focus on the four levers which drive attention and affiliation, context, culture, competition and competitiveness and ODIs can continue not just to survive but thrive,” Gupta said.
And the next FTP cycle will start with the 2027 World Cup. The program will set the bilateral international schedule for ICC members for the period 2027-2031, which will also coincide with a new media rights cycle.
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