The final of the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held in Mumbai on May 24 and the evening games will commence as the usual time of 8 pm as the Governing Council decided against changing the timings, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly announced on Monday.
Talking to the reporters after the IPL Governing Council meeting, Ganguly said, “There will be no change in the timing of IPL night games. It will start at 8 pm like earlier years. We will have only five doubleheaders (4 pm and 8 pm) this time. We have decided to reduce the number of doubleheaders.” He also said that teh final will take place in Mumbai.
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However, there are some firsts as there will be a concussion substitute and ‘third umpire no-ball’ will also be introduced in the upcoming edition of India’s biggest money-spinner, the former India captain informed. Players’ safety has assumed the significance of late with incidents of cricketers getting injured while batting increasing.
The third umpire will now make the exclusive ‘no ball’ call instead of the on-field umpires. It was trialed during recent India and West Indies ODI series In a noble gesture, the BCCI will have an ‘All-Stars Game’ between all top international players before the start of the IPL on March 29 for a charitable cause.
The venue for the game is yet to be finalized, but Ganguly said the BCCI will handover the proceeds to an appropriate forum.
Ganguly further added, “It will be an IPL All-Stars Game three days before the start of IPL. The venue is not Ahmedabad as it is still not match ready. We have not decided on where we will make the donation.”
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Asked about the meeting with National Cricket Academy (NCA) chief Rahul Dravid, Ganguly said that there have been extensive discussions about revamping the facility, which has been under the scanner of late.
The BCCI president added, “As it has already been reported, we will have a nutritionist and biomechanics bowling coach at the NCA.”
