The title clash of the Indian T20 League 2022 on May 29 will start at 8 PM. The game will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Currently, the night games in the league start from 7:30 PM every day. The changes have been made to accommodate the closing ceremony, which is making a comeback after 2017. Since 2018, the league hasn’t seen an opening or closing ceremony.
The Committee of Administration (COA) discontinued the ceremonies ahead of the 2018 season. In 2019, the BCCIÂ decided to skip the ceremonies to pay respects to the Pulwama attack martyrs. In 2020 and 2021, the COVID19 pandemic didn’t let the board organize the ceremonies. Even ahead of the ongoing season, the board couldn’t organize the opening ceremony for the same reason.
Cricbuzz has reported that the closing ceremony will start at 6:30 on the day of the title clash. The event will run for 50 minutes and will involve Bollywood personalities. The toss will be held at 7:30 PM and the match will start half an hour later. The news has come a day after the same website reported that the BCCI is mulling to start the day games at 4 PM and night games at 8 PM.
From 2008 to 2017, the matches used to start at the same time. In 2018, the COA had decided to start both games half an hour early. These timings have been followed since then. The current season has reached the business end. Gujarat and Lucknow have qualified for the playoffs. Other teams like Delhi, Rajasthan, Bangalore and Hyderabad ware fighting it out for the final two spots.
The league stage will end on May 22. The playoffs stage will start on May 24 in Kolkata. On this day, Qualifier One will be played. A day later, the Eliminator match will be played at the same venue. Qualifier Two will be played on May 27 in Ahmedabad. The timings of these games will remain 7:30 PM as per the schedule. However, the BCCI is yet to make a comment.
