IPL 2021: Here’s why last two league games will start at the same time

The governing body of Indian cricket, BCCI, announced that the last two matches of the league stage of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) will start at the same time. Earlier, the match between Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad was supposed to start at 3:30 PM IST on October 8. The second match of the day between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals was scheduled to start at 7.30 PM IST.

However, both the matches will now start at 7:30 PM IST. It was done to keep the interest level going as all the teams involved will play with full force considering the playoffs qualifications. Also, the broadcasters aren’t getting high TRP (Television Rating Points) for afternoon matches.

“The official broadcaster had asked BCCI whether they can have two games simultaneously in two different venues. The broadcasters have informed us that TRP for afternoon games is less compared to evening games. The BCCI can experiment with having two games simultaneously. As Star has multiple channels under their banner, they can provide live telecast of two games smoothly. So, BCCI has agreed to the request,” the board official told The Indian Express.