New Delhi, May 21 (HS): Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have labeled the decision to provide 120 minutes of extra time for the remaining league matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 as temporary and inconsistent. They stated that if this provision had been implemented right at the restart of the tournament, they might still be in the playoff race.
The IPL Governing Council decided on Tuesday that for the remaining nine league matches, 120 minutes of extra time will be given to complete matches interrupted due to rain. Previously, only one hour of extra time was available, while a reserve time of two hours was already in place for playoff matches.
According to ESPNcricinfo, IPL COO Hemang Amin informed all 10 franchises in an email that this decision was taken due to the early arrival of the monsoon, which may cause several matches to be affected by rain.
KKR CEO Venky Mysore raised questions regarding the timing of the rule change in response to this email, stating that the rule should have come into effect as soon as the IPL resumed. He wrote, While it may be necessary to change rules mid-season under these circumstances, consistency is expected in these changes.
The match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders on May 17 was the first game after the IPL resumed. This match was supposed to take place at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, but due to continuous rain, not a single ball was bowled and both teams had to settle for one point each.
The cutoff time for the match was 10:56 PM, but due to the relentless rain, the match was declared canceled at 10:26 PM. The cancellation of this match has almost extinguished KKR’s hopes of reaching the playoffs.
According to ESPNcricinfo, Venky Mysore wrote, If the extra 120-minute rule had been in effect at that time, at least a 5-over match per team could have been played. The likelihood of rain that day was evident beforehand, and yet necessary changes were not made.
He further added, “Implementing such ‘ad hoc’ decisions and inconsistent rules in a major tournament is not right. We hope you can understand our frustration.”
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
