Sunil Gavaskar questions the final scheduling of IPL 2026.
New Delhi: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has questioned the scheduling of the IPL 2026 final, saying the summit clash could have been postponed by a day to ensure a fairer contest after the Gujarat Titans faced travel disruptions and a grueling qualifying schedule.Gujarat Titans entered Sunday’s final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru with less than 24 hours of preparation after arriving in Ahmedabad late on Saturday evening following weather-related delays in Chandigarh.The franchise booked its place in the final by defeating Rajasthan Royals in the second qualifier on Friday evening in New Chandigarh. However, heavy rains in parts of northwest India disrupted their travel plans, preventing their charter flight from departing as scheduled on Saturday afternoon.
Instead of arriving in Ahmedabad with enough time to recover, the Giants reached their hotel in Gandhinagar only late at night before the biggest match of the season.Gavaskar calls for a fairer approachGavaskar believes the exceptional circumstances required a change in the schedule, especially with a reserve day already available for the final.“Yes, definitely,” Gavaskar told India Today when asked if the final should be postponed by a day.
“Make no mistake, players need to rest. You didn’t know when your flight was going to take off, so there was anxiety. Which meant you were also in a state of mental exhaustion apart from the physical damage.”Pointing out that the disruption was beyond Gujarat’s control, the batsman said that postponing the match by a day would have given the players a fair chance to recover physically and mentally.“I thought that with a reserve day, keeping in mind that what happened was completely unexpected, they could have postponed the final to tomorrow, just to be a little fair to Gujarat Titans,” he added.Qualifier 1 feature is getting strongerThis issue has once again highlighted the increasing advantage enjoyed by the teams that win Qualifier 1.RCB clinched an outright place in the final with their win over Gujarat Titans on Tuesday and had almost five full days to rest, recover and prepare for the title clash.On the other hand, Gujarat had to travel from Dharamsala to New Chandigarh after losing in the first qualifier, and then go to Ahmedabad after winning the second qualifier.Traditionally, the Indian Premier League qualifiers are organized at two venues, reducing travel requirements on the teams.
But this season, the qualifiers are spread across three cities, adding to the logistical challenges.This trend was also reflected in the results. The winner of Qualifier 1 has gone on to lift the ISL trophy in each of the last eight seasons, strengthening the argument that the structure of the Qualifiers increasingly favors the team that reaches the final first.