The Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the most celebrated leagues in the country, and the two-month long tournament gets acknowledged as a festival in India.
With the tournament reaching its business end, all the teams have buckled up to qualify for the playoffs and leave a mark in the end.
All the teams have now played ten matches each and have just four more games more to play.
This season saw most of the matches going down to the wire and most of them being last over finished.
However, one of the major drawbacks of the games going until the last over affects the duration of the game, which eventually hampers the viewership.
The evening match begins at 8 PM IST and finishes off at around 11:30. This lateness has been seen as a significant issue this year and the fans have shown disappointment towards the timing as well.
However, the IPL governing council has finally made amends in the timings of the playoff and the final considering the comfort of the fans.
IPL Chairman Rajiv Shukla spoke to the media about the change in the timings.
“The IPL is what it is because of its fans, and the tournament has over the years been followed avidly both on the ground and on television at homes. So, keeping the interest of the fans in mind, it was decided that the playoff games and the final will start an hour earlier. So, instead of the 8 pm start, the games will start at 7 p.m”
“It gets difficult not only for those at the stadium but also for those watching on television as students and office-goers also need to get back to their respective stuff next morning and it helps if the game starts an hour earlier,”
Another change in the plan for the playoffs is the historic Eden Gardens will now host two playoff matches which earlier scheduled in Pune.
“The GC has confirmed that Kolkata will host the Eliminator and Qualifier 2 on May 23 and 25 respectively,”
Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium will host Qualifier 1 and the Final on May 22 and 27, respectively.