MI vs CSK to kick off IPL 11 on Apr 7 at Wankhede, match timings changed

With the grand auction for the 11^th season of IPL few days away, the excitement for the next season of Indian Premier League is has got as high as possible. But before the auction, the schedule has been announced and there are certain changes in the timing as well.

The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held from April 7 to May 27 with the tournament opener and final to be played in Mumbai, the IPL Governing Council (GC) announced on Monday. The opening ceremony will take place in Mumbai on April 6.

Accepting broadcaster Star Sports’ request, the IPL GC has also allowed a shift in timings of the matches. The 8pm game will now begin at 7pm while the 4pm start has now been pushed to 5.30pm.

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“The broadcaster has requested for change in timings. By and large the GC has accepted it. It gets too late in the night if the game starts at 8pm,” said IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla after the GC meeting here.

“As far as the double headers on weekends are concerned. The 4 pm game will now be played at 5.30 pm. There will be an overlap but the broadcaster says it has enough channels to show the games simultaneously,” Shukla said further.

At the meeting, it was also decided that Kings XI Punjab will play four of their home games in Mohali and three in Indore.

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The home matches of Rajasthan Royals, who are returning to IPL after serving a two-year ban, will be finalised after the Rajasthan High Court’s hearing on January 24.

“The matter is in court. I think on 24th (Wednesday), the court may dispose off the matter. We are waiting for that. Preference will 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.

Here’s the full schedule