In a major mid-season realignment, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has declared a key alteration to IPL 2025 playing conditions that extends allowable delay time to begin a match. All Indian Premier League matches, including league games, will now have an additional 120 minutes of time to begin if there are weather conditions or unexpected delays from Tuesday, May 20. Earlier, this prolonged waiting period applied solely to the playoffs.

The decision has come in the wake of premature monsoon arrival and a rescheduled IPL schedule, which has extended the conclusion of the tournament to June 3, 2025, with a brief break in the middle of the season. With rain being a grave concern for quite a few upcoming matches, the IPL Governing Council has amended Clause 13.7.3 of the Match Playing Conditions for the rest of the 2025 season. 

"In view of the impending rain threat and the adjusted schedule. All IPL games (league games included) will have an additional 120 minutes of extra time to start the game," the BCCI said in a letter to all the franchises. This modification practically doubles the leeway for resuming postponed league matches, making sure all possible effort is taken to achieve a result on the pitch and not through rain-hit results or point-sharing.

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Key Takeaways of the New IPL Rule:

• What's Changed?
  The additional time taken to resume a postponed match has been raised from 60 to 120 minutes for all IPL matches.
• Why the Change?
  With the early monsoon and the rescheduled IPL schedule after the break, rain delays are more probable, leading to the BCCI making more flexible scheduling arrangements.
• Effective From?
  The new regulation comes into effect on May 20, 2025.
• Is It Permanent?
  No. The change is valid only for the 2025 season of the IPL, as made clear in the official communication by the BCCI.

With the commercial side of the tournament looming, this decisive action should reduce abandoned games and protect the competition integrity of the league.