Ahead of the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the governing council of the cash-rich tournament have made an important announcement. The timings of the matches have been revised while the tournament will commence from April 7, 2018, in Mumbai. The tournament will end on 27th May 2018, and the final game will also be played in Mumbai.
The announcement was made on January 23 after the official broadcaster, Star Sports, requested the IPL GC for making the changes in the match timings. For IPL 2018, the 8 pm games have been advanced by an hour while the 4 pm afternoon games have now been pushed to 5.30 p.m.
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While addressing the media, IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said that the tournament opener and the final game will be played in Mumbai. The opening ceremony of the tournament will take place on April 6. He said,
“The broadcaster has requested for the change in timings. By and large, the GC has accepted it. It gets too late in the night if the game starts at 8 p.m.
As far as the doubleheaders on weekends are concerned. The 4 p.m. game will now be played at 5.30 p.m. There will be an overlap but the broadcaster says it has enough channels to show the games simultaneously.”
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Shukla also spoke about the chances of Rajasthan Royals to play in Jaipur. He said,
“The matter is in court. I think on 24th (Wednesday), the court may dispose off 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.”
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At the meeting, it was also decided that Kings XI Punjab will play four of their home games in Mohali and three in Indore.
Earlier on January 21, a list of 578 players was announced who will go under the hammer at the IPL auction in Bengaluru on January 27 and 28.
