Rain threat looms large over IPL 2016 final - What happens if RCB vs SRH title clash is disrupted?

Almost two months of riveting action in the Indian Premier League has boiled down to this – a winner-take-all title clash between Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore and David Warner’s Sunrisers Hyderabad. However, there is one factor which is threatening to mar this ultimate match – high-intensity thundershowers which have disrupted normal life in Bangalore over the last two days, and which have been forecast by the weather department to continue into Sunday and the next few days.

The Bangalore side, who are aiming to win their first IPL title, were scheduled to practice at the Chinnaswamy on Saturday, but their plans were marred by the thundershower. The Hyderabad side, who had arrived in the city after Friday night’s victory over Gujarat Lions, had chosen to skip Saturday’s practice session, but their plans will have been affected as well, though to a lesser degree.

Bangalore’s weather forecast today:

Source: Accuweather.

These rains can be attributed to the feeble trough which is running along Coastal Karnataka and Kerala. Moist winds from the sea have also increased the moisture incursion over the area, resulting in these rains, and providing heartache to IPL cricketers and fans alike.

Possibilities if rain disrupts the final

According to BCCI rules, there is a reserve day (Monday) available for the final if it is impossible to be held on Sunday. In case the rain affects the match on Sunday without washing it out completely, the latest that a five-overs-a-side match can start is after midnight at 12.26am, with the finish scheduled for 1.20am. In the latter case, there will be a ten-minute interval between innings and no timeout.

If rain interrupts the match after it has started, then it shall be carried over to Monday, on which day the match shall resume from that point where it stops on Sunday. Any calculations made as to the length of the match on the previous day shall be ignored in this case. 3 hours and 20 minutes plus a further extra time of 2 hours are available for play on the reserve day.

If no play is possible on Sunday after the toss, a new 20-over match will be had on Monday. Teams will have the freedom to choose completely new playing XIs in this case.

If, however, not even a 5-over match is possible on Monday either, conditions permitting, we shall have a Super Over to decide the IPL champion. This would require the pitch and ground to be ready for the ‘shootout’ by 1.20 am.

However, even if this is not possible, the finalists that finished highest in the league table after the 56 matches of the regular season shall be declared the winner. In this case, which is the worst case of all, RCB shall be declared the winners on basis of their superior net run rate as both the teams had finished with 16 points from 14 matches.