Rain in Ahmedabad: CSK vs GT IPL 2023 final postponed to reserve day, May 29

AHMEDABAD: The much-awaited IPL 2023 final between defending champions Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings has been postponed to the reserve day on Monday, May 29, 2023 due to incessant rain in Ahmedabad since Sunday evening. The news came in as a huge disappointment for the fans of both the teams who endured hours of unending rainfall at the Narendra Modi Stadium, the venue for the season-ending final here.

The ground staff was confident of preparing the field for the commencement of the match, even for five overs a side, as envisioned by the umpires. But with the rain showing no signs of receding, the umpires were left with no option but to postpone the all-important fixture to Monday evening without a single being bowled on Sunday.

Effectively, the IPL 2023 final will commence at 7:30 pm on Monday.

Even as the fans of both the teams began thronging the venue in hordes right since Sunday afternoon, rain played spoilsport well before the scheduled commencement of the match. The toss was delayed as the umpires and both the teams waited patiently while several of the thousands of the spectators braved the non-stop downpour in the open stands, praying to the rain gods for some mercy. But the wait only proved to be endless as the rainfall showed no letup despite stopping for brief periods and then battering the ground again with full force.

As hours passed by, the two umpires, Nithin Menon and Rod Tucker shared their thoughts, stating that they would still strive to have a game played, even if it would mean a five overs a side. They said that an hour-long game could still be started at 12:06 am if only the rain stopped. But after inspecting the playing conditions at around 11 pm and seeing the rain showing no signs of stopping, the two umpires decided to defer the IPL 2023 final to Monday, May 29, the reserve day.

With the weather forecast predicting no rain on Monday, a full 20 overs a side game is on the cards but the postponement on Sunday came in as a huge blow for the weekend crowd that turned up at the venue hoping for another exciting IPL final.