The IPL 2023 final, which was to be played on May 28, Sunday, between the Gujarat Titans (GT) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), had to be postponed to the reserve day, May 29 due to heavy rains in Ahmedabad, where it is to be hosted at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Motera.
Chennai Super Kings had defeated Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 to make their 10th IPL final, while the Hardik Pandya-led side, defeated Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2 to reach their second consecutive IPL final.
The rains were pouring heavily in the city and several parts of the ground saw puddles forming with the required areas being covered nicely. The downpour halted for a bit at late night when the umpires inspected the ground along with the groundstaff.
As per the rulings, a full match was possible up until 9.35 PM IST after which overs began deducting for every further delay in start. At 9 PM, the rain briefly stopped to ghopeopes of a full game to everyone presont in the ground and those waitingtheir in homes.
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However, rains returned shortly and kept pouring withcut-offt off time being 12.06 AM IST if the rains stopped at 11 PM as per officials.
But the rains didn’t subside and in the hands after discussing with match referee Javagal Srinath, the umpires and coaches of the two teams, it was decided that the match was postponed to May 29 which had a better forecast.
Incidentally, this will be the first time in IPL history that a reserve day will be utilized for the mega final of the tournament.
