Heavy rain played spoilsport in the highly anticipated Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 final between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
As no play was possible due to heavy and continuous rains, the most-awaited summit clash of the cash-rich league was moved to the reserve day on Monday (May 29).
For the first time in the history of the cash-rich league, an IPL final will be held on a reserve day as the final of the ongoing 2023 season, which was originally scheduled for Sunday, May 28, was washed out due to heavy rains at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad.
While there was a prediction of heavy rainfalls on Sunday, which was also apparent, the chances of rain playing spoilsport on Monday (Reserve day) are considerably low.
Going by Weather.com, a top weather forecasting platform, the chances of rain in Ahmedabad at 7 PM on Monday (May 29) are 6% which however, substantially increases to 22% at around 8 PM. It will then fall to 19% at 9 PM, 17% at 10 PM and is expected to remain at four percent at around 11 PM and will also be cloudy throughout the game.
On the other hand, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) is expecting some light thunderstorms on Monday evening, just few hours before the game begins.
Now, let us know what would happen if unfortunately, Monday’s game is also rain washed?
As the cut-off time for reserve day remains the same as the previous day, the match will start getting reduced from 9:35pm IST, and there will be a chance of a five-over per side game until as late as 12:06am IST.
Even if a five-overs play isn’t possible, the title will be fought over a Super Over however, in that scenario, the outfield and the pitch must be prepared by 1:20am IST.
Now coming to the worst possible scenario, if the reserve day is also washed out, the team with the highest points on the points table will be declared the winner of the IPL 2023 which means, Gujarat Titans will be announced as the winner.
Notably, after the culmination of the 70-match league stage, Gujarat Titans was at the top of the table with 20 points.
Notably, both Chennai and Gujarat had faced each other in the opener of the ongoing season at the same venue, where the hosts had won the affair.
Later, the MS Dhoni-led Chennai became the first team to qualify for the final after they outplayed Gujarat in Qualifier 1 of the tournament on May 23 at their own backyard.
Despite losing the Qualifier 1, the defending champions made a comeback as in Qualifier 2 against Mumbai Indians, Gujarat registered an emphatic win, making it to their second straight IPL final.