We are now just a few months away from the eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League, as excitement levels are definitely on the rise among fans all over the country.
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India’s biggest cricketing carnival will start from the first week of April, as the IPL will start a fresh chapter this season. The franchises took part in the IPL auction a couple of weeks back, as all eight teams hit the reset button and built new squads from scratch.
The tournament was supposed to start from April 5th, with Mumbai Indians hosting Chennai Super Kings.
But it looks like there will be a dramatic change this year, as Star Sports have proposed a change in match-timings on the double-header days.
Earlier at the IPL auction, the chairman, Rajeev Shukla, spoke about the broadcasters’ request for a change in match-timings.
“The Broadcasters requested for a change in timings and IPL governing council in principal has accepted it,” IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said.
“IPL 11 to begin on 6th April 2018 with opening ceremony in Mumbai and first match on 7th April in Mumbai, the final on 27th May will also be in Mumbai,” said Rajeev Shukla, Commissioner of the IPL, confirming the dates of the event.
“Live broadcast of 8pm game will be shifted to 7pm, while 4pm will be played at 5:30pm,” he added.
Now we hear that KKR and Rajasthan Royals are have agreed to the change in match timings. According to them, the earlier the match ends, the more time players get to rest before they travel.
“Look they are proposing to advance the games by 30 minutes — 3.30 pm for the afternoon games and 7.30 pm for night games. We see nothing wrong there. An early finish is in everyone’s interest. In-stadia public can go home early. It would be safe for them too. We will have an issue if there is an overlap of the games,” Venky Mysore, the CEO of the Shah Rukh Khan owned Kolkata franchise, told the Mumbai Mirror.
“We would prefer an early finish. In Jaipur, people tend to sleep early. If there are no doubleheaders, we are comfortable. In fact I have suggested that on weekends, instead of evening games, we can have breakfast games,” the CEO of Rajasthan Royals Ranjit Balthakur quoted.
