IPL 10: Sunil Gavaskar lashes out at poor rules for rain delayed playoffs

The much-awaited Eliminator between the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Kolkata Knight Riders started on time at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. However, the match saw some severe rain interventions that tested the patience of the crowds. Soon after the conclusion of the first innings, heavy downpour hit the city that saw the match being halted for almost a couple of hours. Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar looked absolutely disgusted with the proceedings.

In the mid-innings show, Extraa Innings T20 on Sony ESPN, Gavaskar questioned the poor organizing of a key fixture such as this. The primary concern of Sunil Gavaskar was that the Eliminator and the Qualifiers of the playoffs do not have reserve day. Only the final has the reserve day this season. He questioned the fact as to why the organizers could not fit in an extra day in the schedule for the key fixtures such as these.

Existing rules

In case the match does not get underway, the rules state that the team ending at a higher position in the points table would qualify for the next game. In essence, if the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders would not have started, then the defending champions would have advanced to the next round.

This would have been due to the fact that Sunrisers had finished at the third spot in the league stages with 17 points to their name. In comparison, the Knight Riders had only 16 points to their name to finish at the fourth spot. Well, the same rule applies for the Qualifier 2.

In case, the Qualifier 2 gets called off due to rain, the Mumbai Indians will make it to the finals of the season to face off against the Rising Pune Supergiant. Interestingly, even the Qualifier 2 is scheduled to be played at the same venue of M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Fellow hosts Aakash Chopra and Gaurav Kapoor also agreed to the words of Sunil Gavaskar on having a reserve day for the playoffs matches.