Reports: Franchises to get only three home matches in IPL 2019
The tournament is set to get underway on March 23.
The 12th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be finally played in India after a lot of deliberation. The clashing with the general election dates will be handled by the BCCI it seems as the tournament gets underway on March 23. However, there will be a change in the format the way matches take place this time. While the schedule will be finalised once the election dates are announced, the teams might have to make do with the home matches this time around.
The security will be major issue during the IPL this time around. But the BCCI is confident enough to manage it as the election will be held in phases and accordingly the scheduling will be done. Also, to overcome the security issue, BCCI reportedly informed the franchises that they will get only three home matches this season and the rest of the fixtures will be played at the neutra venues.
Schedule to be announced on February 2 or 3
According to the reports in Pune Mirror, the schedule of the IPL will be announced on February 2 or 3 as the board is expecting for the election commission to announce the dates until then. BCCI will also have a backup plan for a few matches in case there is a change in dates at the last moment.
Reportedly, the franchises had expressed that they would prefer playing at the neutral venues instead of shifting the whole tournament out of India. Accordingly, the BCCI will shortlist five or six neutral venues where the matches could be played with the home-away format being sacrificed for this season.
“The first objectivity was to keep the IPL in India. As the elections will be held in phases, so it should not be a problem for BCCI to find venues to suit both the teams as well as that particular state govt which has to provide the security,” the BCCI official was quoted as saying by Times Now.
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