Eighth Indian Premier League 2023 match to get affected by rain, the final match of the tournament has become the first-ever IPL final to be called off for the day. Speaking particularly of the ongoing 16th season, the title-deciding clash has become the second match of this edition to not get completed on its originally scheduled day.
Advertisement
Unlike a league match between Lucknow Super Giants and Chennai Super Kings at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium earlier this month, the final between CSK and Gujarat Titans didn’t even start due to inclement weather conditions at the Narendra Modi Stadium tonight. Another difference between the two matches is that there’s a reserve day in place for the latter.
Is IPL 2023 Final Cancelled For Today?
The provision of an additional day for a knockout match of a giant cricket tournament such as the IPL isn’t less than any insurance plan which will come to the rescue in an unprecedented situation.
With the weather forecast for the day holding true to a tee, it not only rained during expected hours but exceeded expectations to a large extent. Originally scheduled to commence at 07:30 PM (local time), a 20-over contest could’ve still started until 09:35 PM.
Although the match officials could’ve waited till 12:06 PM for the possibility of a five-over contest, proceedings were officially cancelled or called off for the day a few minutes before 11 PM.
In an conversation with host broadcaster Star Sports Network before making the final announcement, umpires Nitin Menon and Rod Tucker had explained how the ground officials needed a minimum of an hour to prepare it for a match after such an amount of rainfall.
With rain not entirely stopping in addition to the damage done by the rain gods to the ground, the match officials eventually decided to postpone the match to May 29, i.e., tomorrow. Apart from Menon and Tucker, match referee Javagal Srinath, Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming and Titans head coach Ashish Nehra were part of the final discussion.
It is worth mentioning that weather report for Monday should allow a proper T20 to be played as IPL 2023 final.
