MUMBAI: When Star India announced that it was coughing up a jaw dropping Rs 16,347.50 crore to acquire the all media rights of the prized IPL, it signaled an era of change. And more of that is coming. Star India has managed to convince the The IPL governing council (GC) to change the timings for the games for the eleventh season of the league being held from 7 April to 27 May. The IPL opening ceremony will take place in Mumbai on 6 April.
IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla confirmed to Indiantelevision.com that the 8 pm game will now begin at 7 pm while the 4 pm game was being pushed forward to 5:30 pm.
"The broadcaster has requested for a change in timings. By and large, the GC has accepted it. It gets too late in the night if the game starts at 8 pm," said IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla after the GC meeting. “There will be an overlap but the broadcaster says it has enough channels to show the games simultaneously.”
At the meeting, it was also decided that Kings XI Punjab will play four of their home games in Mohali and three in Indore.
The home matches of Rajasthan Royals, who are returning to the IPL after serving a two-year ban, will be finalised after the Rajasthan High Court's hearing on 24 January. Preference will be given to Jaipur if the stadium is ready and court clears RCA's status.
“If that doesn't happen, the alternate venue will be Pune," said Shukla. A total of 578 players including 360 Indians will go under the hammer at the IPL auction in Bengaluru on January 27 and 28.
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