After a lot of discussions, it has been finalized that the complete 12th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be played in India. The clashing of the upcoming season with the general election dates will be handled by the BCCI as the tournament gets underway on March 23. However, there will be a change in the format of the scheduling of the games this time. While the schedule will be finalized once the election dates are announced, the teams might not be getting as many as seven home matches this time around.

The security will be a major issue during the IPL 2019. But the BCCI is confident enough to manage it as the election will be taking place in phases and accordingly, the scheduling of the matches will be done. Also, to overcome the security issue, BCCI reportedly informed the franchises that they will get only three home games this season and the rest of the fixtures will be played at the neutral venues.

ALSO READ: IPL 2019 Will Be Played In India, Starts March End

According to the reports in Pune Mirror, BCCI will be finalizing the IPL 2019 schedule by February 2 or 3 as the board is expecting for the election commission to announce the dates until then. The board will also have a backup plan for a few matches in case they have to maneuver with dates at the last moment.

Reportedly, the franchises will be preferring playing at the neutral venues as compared to shifting the whole tournament out of India. Accordingly, the BCCI will shortlist five or six neutral venues where the matches could be played with the home-away format being sacrificed for this season.

As per the quotes in Times Now, a BCCI official said, “The first objectivity was to keep the IPL in India. As the elections will be held in phases, so it should not be a problem for BCCI to find venues to suit both the teams as well as that particular state govt which has to provide the security.”