The Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council has kept spectators’ and players’ interests paramount in deciding to reduce the number of matches starting in the afternoon in the forthcoming edition of the T20 tournament.
According to sources, the Governing Council, at its meeting here on Monday, decided to reduce the number of matches starting at 4 p.m. to six. The idea is to protect the players and the spectators from extremely warm conditions in some parts of the country.
The Governing Council also decided to stick to 8 p.m. as the starting time for the IPL matches against the suggestion to commence at 7.30 p.m.
A suggestion was also mooted to increase the number of teams from three to four in the women’s section of the IPL.
NCA functioning
The Board, meanwhile, took stock of the National Cricket Academy’s functioning. NCA chairman Rahul Dravid met Board president Sourav Ganguly on the restructuring of the Academy and came up with fresh plans to give it a more professional look.
Board sources said, “Various issues were discussed. We are going to have a high performance executive, a new nutritionist and a new biomechnics consultant for bowlers.” The Board, obviously, is concerned at the growing number of bowlers getting injured.
