Kevin Pietersen rejected Lalit Modi’s prediction that The Hundred would become a T20 competition in the future. In an interview with Overlap Cricket, the IPL founder questioned the long-term survival of The Hundred, England’s 100-ball franchise cricket competition. Modi predicted that the tournament had structural and commercial limitations and would die in three years.
Modi also criticised the lack of marketing and promotion for the tournament and revealed that the tournament is not making any money either. He also slammed the tournament’s format, noting that the 100-ball structure makes it unrelatable to fans.
‘The Hundred won’t die in three years’: Kevin Pietersen
Taking to X, Pietersen stated, “The Hundred won’t die in 3yrs, it’ll be a T20 comp within 3yrs.”
Reacting to a fan’s comment on his post, Pietersen further added, “It’ll just be the UK’s version of the IPL. Format will change to T20.”
The Hundred is organised by the ECB and its first edition was in 2021. The 2026 edition will begin on July 21.
What did Lalit Modi say?
Speaking to Michael Vaughan on the Overlap Cricket podcast, Modi made a dire prediction and also pointed out the UK’s viewership demographics. He said, “It’ll die in three years. Completely die. It’ll be finished. It won’t be there. I guarantee it. In three to four years, it won’t exist. It’ll pump so much money into it that there will be no future. I’ll give you the simple reasoning: it’s in the month of August. Great window, that’s all you have. There’s no promotion or marketing behind it. Sky has no reason to promote it. There is no money coming into the game. At the end of the day, the people who bought the teams are expecting a return on their investment. The return comes from media rights and nothing else.”
“Would you buy a Sky package just for The Hundred, for one month? The UK is not an advertisement-driven market. The UK market is the best in the world for subscription revenue. That is Sky Television’s model. Its model is subscriber-based.
“People fight for the cricket package, but only when the Ashes are on or when India comes to play. That’s spread over four or five months. You have a one-month window to put The Hundred. You’re buying a cricket package, which is already diminishing,” he also added.
