IPL 2023 Final, CSK vs GT: Persistent rains force match into reserve day on Monday

On Sunday, the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 was moved to the reserved day after relentless rains delayed the toss and subsequently the start of the summit showdown in Ahmedabad. The announcement was made at 10:55 pm local time. The title clash between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings, thus, will be played here at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Monday.

With the weather forecast not being too promising for the final on Sunday, it only kept getting worse for the fans who had turned up to pack the house. It began raining here in the evening half an hour before the toss time around 6:30 pm local time and did not stop for longer durations at least for the next two-and-a-half hours.

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However, the rain did stop after 9:00 pm local time and the covers were taken off, with two super soppers already in action from around 8:30 pm. However, a heavy spell of rain returned to force the ground staff to cover the field again and players off the pitch, who had started warming up.

There were some serious puddles on the covers and exposed parts of the outfield, which would have taken the groundstaff more than an hour to clear, provided the rain had stopped. As per the rules, the IPL final will have a reserve day on Monday, May 29, in this year's case in case the match is not able to start by the 12:06 am cut-off time, in which case there will be a five-overs per-side contest. There are no such predictions of rain here on Monday, which means that there is a full possibility of a 20-20 over match.

(With inputs from PTI)