IPL 2019 matches to begin at 8 PM
What's the story
The 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will see matches begin at 8 PM IST.
This comes after the Committee of Administrators (CoA) confirmed that the evening matches will begin at their normal time.
Some reports had suggested that the BCCI might change the timings of the evening games for the upcoming season due to the General Elections.
Here's more.
Timings
Regular timings for IPL 2019 matches
The timing of the matches was one important feature discussed at the CoA meeting.
IPL 2019 will see the afternoon matches begin at 4 PM and the evening games will start at 8 PM.
Reports also claim that the franchises too wanted the BCCI to continue with the usual timing slots.
"Matches will begin at 8 PM," Rai told reporters after Thursday's meeting.
Quote
'We welcome BCCI's decision to retain the match timings'
"We welcome BCCI's decision to retain the match timings. Like 2018, we wanted the games to have an usual start. This time, we were not yet approached by BCCI regarding match timings but we were eagerly awaiting its decision," said a team official to PTI.
Schedule
BCCI yet to announce full schedule of IPL 2019
Earlier, the BCCI had announced the schedule for the first two weeks.
The full schedule of IPL 12 is yet to be released.
The dates haven't been announced yet due to the pending schedule of the General Elections.
The league matches will have the usual timings.
But the knockout matches and the final will start from 7 PM.
The same thing happened last season.
IPL 2018
In IPL 2018 we had early kick-off for play-offs
In IPL 2018, the play-off stage had only one game in a day and therefore it was feasible for all concerned parties to have the matches at 7 PM instead of 8 PM.
IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla had stated that it would be easier for the crowd to enjoy the game and then head home with matches ending way before midnight.
Information
RCB to take on defending champs CSK in opener
The IPL 2019 season gets underway from March 23 onwards with defending champions Chennai Super Kings taking on Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore. The match will be played at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai.