IPL 2019 | Vinod Rai confirms that IPL matches will be on the primetime slot

The 12th edition of the Indian Premier League is just around the corner and all the teams are raring to go and get their hands on the coveted trophy this year. With the general elections and the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup at the back of everyone’s minds, BCCI have worked long and hard to plan things meticulously in order to get the tournament up and running.

One of the rumors that was doing the rounds earlier was that the Indian governing body was under pressure to change the timings of the night matches to 7 pm while majority of the teams wanted the Board to stick to the 8 pm slot. However, CoA chief Vinod Rai confirmed that they will stick to the prime time slot of 8 pm in the evening.

“Matches will begin at 8 pm,” said Rai after a COA meeting, reported PTI.

“We welcome BCCI's decision to retain the match timings. Like last year, we wanted the games to have an 8 pm start. This time, we were not yet approached by the BCCI regarding match timings but we were eagerly awaiting its decision,” a team official told PTI.

Last month, the BCCI announced the schedule for the first two weeks of IPL while the full schedule will be announced after dates of general elections are made known to the masses. Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will face Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL opener on March 23 in Chennai.