BCCI mulling to start IPL 2027 early, hold Final by May 15

The 2027 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set for an earlier-than-expected start. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary, Devajit Saikia, has suggested that they are considering starting the next season of the cash-rich tournament by the second week of March and have it concluded with the final to be played around May 15.

Usually, the IPL commences in the last week of March and runs up until the entirety of May. However, with weather conditions changing around this time, Saikia has acknowledged that the players and fans face difficulties during the conduct of the matches. As a result, there have been ongoing discussions around an early window for the marquee event.

"This year, IPL started around the 29th of March, and it was over by the 31st of May. The only thing we are discussing is that during the fag end of the tournament, after 15th of May, there are issues regarding the weather, particularly in some areas, there is apprehension of having rainfall or the pre-monsoon season starting or on the other hand, there are warm weather, hot conditions, which are not very conducive either for the players or for the crowds or the fans," Saikia was quoted as saying by India TV.

Sakia has further added that the BCCI is set to make all efforts possible to make sure that the tournament gets underway by mid-March, which will be beneficial in overcoming the adverse changes in weather in some parts of the country. The Board is also quite adamant on playing the final by the fortnight into the month of May, which will help in tackling any possible rain interruptions in the playoffs since they do not have a reserve day.

"So, there is a discussion going on in the BCCI as well as in our IPL Governing Council regarding whether we can start the tournament a little bit earlier than the fag end of March. From next year, we'll make an effort, and I have already instructed our general manager of games development to look for the windows whether we can start it by the 10th of March so that we want to conclude it by the 15th of May so that there is no adverse weather conditions in the run-up to the final stages of the playoffs and the finals of the IPL 2027, which will be the 20th edition of IPL.

The IPL 2027 is expected to be a grand spectacle as it will see the Royal Challengers Bengaluru looking to become the first team to make it a hat-trick of championships.