The Grade Cricketer Deletes All IPL 2025 Content After BCCI’s Legal Notice

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has issued a legal notice to the Australian YouTube channel The Grade Cricketer, leading to the removal of their Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL 2025)-related videos from all the platforms. 

The popular cricket podcast, hosted by Sam Perry and Ian Higgins, was compelled to delete hundreds of videos after the BCCI flagged the unauthorized use of IPL photos and logos for commercial purposes.

The legal action came after the podcast’s use of still images from IPL matches in their daily show, "The Big IPL Breakfast". The BCCI reportedly argued that the inclusion of these images, alongside sponsorship from Indian online grocery platform BigBasket, constituted "commercial" rather than "editorial" use, violating the rights.

"You may have noticed that every single video from our coverage of this year’s cricket tournament has been removed from YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Facebook, Instagram, and X. This is something we’ve done ourselves, it hasn’t been done to us, we have removed these videos," Perry told the listeners addressing the abrupt takedown of videos.

"On Saturday evening Australian time we received a very polite legal letter about elements of our content from the cricket tournament we speak to you about pertaining specifically to this season. As a result we decided to take those videos down," he added.

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Sam Perry, Ian Higgins to Travel to India for IPL Coverage 

Perry and Higgins will come to India for live shows. They will also cover the IPL during their visit to India.

"It’s very important to note we’re going to continue to post coverage of the tournament, at the same cadence that we do. In fact, there’s going to be more in the next couple of weeks because we’re going to India. But our approach to content has been consistent for five years, we just now have a deeper understanding of what is and isn’t passing muster," Perry noted.

The Grade Cricketer, with an audience exceeding one million globally, has been a fan favourite for its witty and insightful cricket commentary. The podcast’s coverage of IPL 2025, which began on March 22, had gained significant traction, but the BCCI’s strict enforcement of its media rights has now disrupted their content strategy. 

The move has sparked debate with most social media users criticizing BCCI’s actions.

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