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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly looking into ways to increase the Indian Premier League and also into the future of bilateral cricket within an ever more packed international fixture list.

The IPL currently boasts 74 fixtures, but there are discussions that the tournament may be extended to a 94-game fixturelist to allow each team to play each other twice, home and away, giving a complete league format.

However, fitting 94 matches into the present IPL window would pose significant difficulties with current commitments as well as the onset of monsoon in India.

A BCCI source says a potential avenue that has been discussed to facilitate this could be to bring forward the start of the IPL, currently slated for a late March start, to the first week in March.

A BCCI source informed a popular daily newspaper:

"We can't play 94 games in the current window as the monsoon starts after May. Either we split into two halves or we do it from March first week and have it till May 15. That would be the best window when 94 matches are played."

IPL Chairman Arun Dhumal had previously mentioned that a 94-match format could be one for the future and no concrete decisions have been made regarding this.

The ongoing increase in stature and popularity of the tournament is leading to considerations that a larger window would be necessary to facilitate future editions of the competition.

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A potential expansion of the IPL could potentially impact the future of bilateral cricket.

"We also need to see the feasibility of bilateral series going forward. Every country has their own league, they are not entirely dependent on hosting the India series. So, we need to see the feasibility of bilaterals going forward. The broadcaster is already not seeing value in some of the bilateral series being played. If cricket has to go the soccer way, all boards need to buy into it."

The modern cricket schedule is becoming incredibly packed with International Cricket Council (ICC) events and continent specific tournaments as well as franchise league around the world.

Moreover, several IPL franchises now possess stakes in T20 leagues worldwide. While no concrete announcements have been made, recent discussions reveal that the BCCI is indeed seriously considering the future role of international and franchise cricket in the coming years.