The (IPL) Indian Premier League 2022 final will start at 8 PM IST. This, Cricbuzz understands, is because of an additional feature lined up on the last day of a cultural closing ceremony.
The IPL 2022 finale will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium at Motera in Ahmedabad next Sunday (29th May).
Cricbuzz has learned from the IPL and BCCI authorities that the closing ceremony, involving many Bollywood personalities, plans to start at 6:30 PM IST and run for 50 minutes. The toss will be at 7:30 PM IST, and the match will begin after 30 minutes of toss.
Accidently, the news comes just a day after Cricbuzz reported that the BCCI's preferred timing for starting the evening IPL matches is 8 PM, which used to be the league's schedule for the first ten years, from 2008-to 17.
The opening and closing shows involving Bollywood stars were regular features of the IPL in its first decade. It was discontinued under the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) regime for three years which the current dispensation followed for the first two years of its charge.
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BREAKING: #IPL2022 final to start at 8PM IST, instead of 7:30PM.@vijaymirror has the details 👇https://t.co/1zJDnh775Z
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) May 19, 2022
Even this year, there was no opening ceremony on 26th March, when the IPL started. The decision to hold the closing ceremony was an afterthought, taken at an Apex Council meeting later.
The IPL has reached the business end of the competition, with the league stage concluding this Sunday (22nd May). The four-match play-offs are being staged in Kolkata and Ahmedabad, with the former hosting the Qualifier 1 and Eliminator on 24th May and 25 and the last two games in Ahmedabad.
The media has tried reaching out to the BCCI and IPL officials for comment.
