The Indian Premier League fixtures are expected to be released sometime next week, a week later than the earlier expected date. The Board of Control for Cricket in India is working with the Election Commission and other authorities concerned to draw a schedule that does not interfere with the election procedure.
It was reported earlier the BCCI will release the IPL 2019 schedule on Monday, February 4. However, there was no formal or informal mention about the match schedule. Now, Mumbai Mirror has reported with a reference to sources in the BCCI that the IPL 2019 fixture will be announced next week. “We’re working closely with the Election Commission and all the authorities concerned and hopefully it will be out in a week,” Mumbai Mirror has quoted a BCCI official as saying.
The BCCI had earlier laid to rest all speculation about the IPL 2019 being shifted to an overseas venue – fully or partially – in wake of the General Elections in the country. The BCCI had also confirmed March 23 as the tentative start date for the IPL 2019.
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The BCCI will have to squeeze in the IPL 2019 between March 23 and the first fortnight of May to release the players in time for joining their respective national teams to prepare for the ICC World Cup 2019, to be played in England and Wales from May 29.
The board, however, has not been able to announcement the schedule since the match venues and dates will be finalised in order to avoid any clash with the Lok Sabha polls in the cities hosting the IPL 2019 games.
The threat of the franchisees not getting all their seven “home games” at the “home venue” is not ruled out.
The Election Commission of India has not announced the dates for the General Election this year. Unable to formalise the final IPL 2019 match dates before that, the BCCI is expected to release a tentative itinerary, with the room to realign a few games following the release of the election dates.
This will be the first occasion in the 12-years of the IPL that the league matches will be stated in India in the year of General Elections. On the previous two occasions, the 2nd edition of the IPL 2009 was entirely played in South Africa while in 2014 the league was partially shifted to the UAE.
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