The twelfth installment of the Indian Premier League is all set to begin from the 23rd of March, 2019. Fans all over are excited for one of the most awaited cricket tournaments of the year. But this year, the tournament is amidst a lot of speculations, especially because of the clash with the 2019 Lok Sabha General Elections. Amidst the increasing hype of the upcoming edition of the IPL, millions around the country and the world will be eagerly waiting to see who sits atop the IPL 2019 Points Table and then emerges as the winner in the playoffs.
One of the prime concerns was the venue. There were rumours that the IPL might be shifted to some other venue abroad as it was in 2009 and 2014. In 2009 the league was held in South Africa while in 2014, a part of the tournament was shifted to UAE due to General Elections. But thankfully, BCCI and the IPL committee, have figured a way out to keep the tournament in the country.The league is loved so much that once the tournament starts, even those who cannot watch the match will be glued to their devices checking
Another speculation which arose very recently was that BCCI might change the timings of the matches. The reason was again the same, the General Elections. But on 7th of March, CoA chief Vinod Rai confirmed that timings won’t change, thus putting all questions to rest. Hence, all the afternoon matches would begin at 4:00 PM and the night ones at 8:00 PM, just as they are supposed to traditionally. This was discussed and decided by the CoA on Thursday. This decision was unanimously backed up by all the franchises.
To quote Vinod Rai, chief of CoA-‘Matches will begin at 8 pm’.
To this another team official added-’We welcome BCCI’s decision to retain the match timings. Like last year, we wanted the games to have an 8 pm start. This time, we were not yet approached by the BCCI regarding match timings but we were eagerly awaiting its decision’.
The IPL Schedule which has been released, is for two weeks only. All the fans are still waiting for the entire schedule to be released. The delay is because the General Election dates haven’t been disclosed yet.
