New Delhi: The much-awaited eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to get underway from April 7 with the first math and the final being held at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on May 27, as announced by the IPL Governing Council (GC) on Monday.
Mumbai would also play host to the opening ceremony on April 6. The IPL GC, on the request of broadcasters Star Sports have shifted the timing of the evening matches, which originally started from 8pm. These matches have been shifted to 7pm and the afternoon games which began on 4pm have been rescheduled to 5:30 pm.
“The broadcaster has requested for change in timings. By and large the GC has accepted it. It gets too late in the night if the game starts at 8pm,” said IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla, after the GC meeting.
Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly who is also a member of the GC couldn’t attend the meeting. Shukla further added, “As far as the double headers on weekends are concerned. The 4pm game will now be played at 5.30pm. There will be an overlap but the broadcaster says it has enough channels to show the games simultaneously.”
It was also decided in the meeting that Kings XI Punjab would play four of their home matches in Mohali and three in Indore. As for the Rajasthan Royals who are returning to the IPL after a two-year hiatus, their home venue would be decided after a Rajasthan High Court’s hearing on January 24.
“The matter is in court. I think on 24th (Wednesday), the court may dispose of the matter. We are waiting for that. Preference will be given to Jaipur if the stadium is ready and court clears RCA’s status. If that doesn’t happen, the alternate venue will be Pune,” Shukla also added.
The IPL auctions would be held on January 27 and 28 in Bengaluru where a total of 578 players including 360 Indians would go under the hammer.