IPL teams not in favour BCCI, Star Sports' proposal of change in match-timings
Mumbai: While the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council and broadcasters Star Sports are eager to change match-timings for IPL 2018, all the eight the eight teams have reportedly opposed the proposal.
BCCI, IPL GC and Star Sports wanted to make changes to start of the matches in the eleventh edition of the tournament. It was proposed that on the days of double headers, the matches will start at 5.30 PM and 7 PM instead of the traditional 4 PM and 8 PM starts.
The tournament broadcasters were keen on the new timings in order to get more ratings and viewership. However, it is now learnt the eight IPL teams – Mumbai Indians (MI), Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Delhi Daredevils (DD), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) – have shot down the idea.
“There will be no problem on days with just a single match but there will be a big one when there are doubleheaders. They won’t get the complete three-hour quota and instead will have to share it with two matches. The overlap will result in one-and-a-half hours of each IPL match losing out on viewers,” a franchise official was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
IPL 2018 will kick off on April 7 in Mumbai.
