The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has preponed the start time of all five Twenty20 Internationals versus India by one hour. The matches will now start at 10:00 p.m. IST in order to maximize television viewership in the subcontinent.
After talks with the broadcasters, the five Twenty20 Internationals between the two past World Cup winners have been rescheduled to begin an hour earlier than originally scheduled at 11:00 p.m. IST (6:30 p.m. local time), according to ESPNCricinfo.
“Start times for England’s home internationals are finalised after consultation between the ECB, venues, opposition boards, and domestic and overseas broadcasters – in this case, Sky Sports (UK) and the Sony Sports Network (India),” the report said.
“The change in start times from the 6.30pm slot, which has become standard in recent seasons, underlines English cricket’s reliance on “high-value broadcast series” — effectively, those which feature India — which was laid bare in the ECB’s recently published financial report,” it added.
According to the report, all tickets for India’s three-match ODI series during the tour have been sold out.
Whether batting stalwart Virat Kohli, who is recovering from a hamstring injury, is ready for the tour is still up in the air.
At the conclusion of the 50-overs series against Afghanistan at home, which Kohli will miss, the BCCI said last week that it would announce the team for the England ODI series.
