Off The Field

BCCI Meeting: IPL governing council to discuss match timings, schedule

Written by Rohit Pawar

The high-profile governing council of the Indian Premier League will on Monday deliberate on commencing the night matches of the upcoming edition at 7.30 pm instead of the usual 8 pm start.

During the meeting in the national capital, the principal office bearers of the BCCI, including president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah, are also expected to finalize the three-member Cricket Advisory Committee that will interview the candidates for the national selection panel.

It is learned that both Gautam Gambhir and Sulakshana Naik might not be eligible as the former, apart from retiring in the 2018-19 season, is also a Member of Parliament (MP), which could disqualify him as per Lodha Committee norms.

Naik also last played domestic cricket in 2018-19 and for anyone to be a member of CAC, he or she needs to be retired from active cricket for at least five years.

With the Supreme Court yet to hear the BCCI matter, the office bearers would like to appoint ex-players who are not conflicted.

This will be the second meeting of the IPL GC headed by former Test batsman Brijesh Patel and the itinerary for the 2020 edition is expected to be finalized.

It needs to be kept in mind that there has to be a 15-day gap between the IPL final and India’s next international engagement as per Lodha’s recommendations.

“The broadcasters want an early start (7 pm or 7:30 pm) along with no doubleheaders on weekends. The matters will be up for discussion. The full schedule of the tournament is likely to be discussed at the GC,” a senior BCCI member told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

About the author

Rohit Pawar

An Independent I.T. Security Expert, Geek, Blogger & Passionate Programmer.