The cricket fraternity is gearing up for yet another thrilling season of Indian T20 League, one of the costliest and glamorous affairs of the cricket world. With 3 good months still left to the commencement of the tournament, the excitement amongst the fans has already begun with the recently concluded Player Auction.
The latest announcement from the officials has just added on to the hype. The officials had revealed the start date of the tournament as March 29, sometime back, and on Wednesday they announced the date for the epic finale too. As per the reports doing the rounds, the Finale of the upcoming edition of Indian T20 League will be played on May 24 in Mumbai. The revelation of date for the Final match, point out towards the extension of the tournament tenure from the usual 45 days to 57 days.
Reports suggest that the fans might get to see a lot of changes in the upcoming edition of the tournament. The changes that are in pipeline include the likes of change in timings and playing of doubleheaders.
"While the full schedule isn’t ready yet, the final is set to be played on May 24 and with the tournament starting on March 29, you obviously get a longer window than say 45 days. So, there should be no issue in accommodating one game a day. In fact, it should be a walk in the park for those chalking out how matches will be played over 57 days," revealed a source while talking to the media.
"See, TRP is an issue for sure, but let us not just put it on that as you can for yourself go back and see how late the games finished last season. Even for those coming into the stadium, it was quite an issue going back home after the game. While it is being discussed, but looks like we may start at 7.30 p.m. this edition onwards. If you are living in a metro, you do know the kind of traffic issues there is say in Delhi, Mumbai or Bengaluru. Do you seriously believe that it is possible for people to leave the office at around 6 p.m. and then come into the stadium with their families by the time the game gets underway? This is an area that needs to be taken into consideration before changing the timing of the game.", he further added.
"Do you believe that it is just the broadcasters who have a problem? Let us be real. Even franchises have a problem filling the stands for the afternoon games. So, it is best that we do away with the afternoon games and focus on one game a day," said the source.
The opening game of the Indian T20 League 2020 will also be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on March 29, 2020.