Hyderabad to host IPL final on May 12

The final of the 2019 Indian Premier League will be played in Hyderabad, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on May 12, reports Cricbuzz.

This is a stark departure from previous years, when the defending champion would host the next year's final along with the season opener.

Going by that, Chennai should have hosted this year's final but the MA Chidambaram Stadium failed to get the required permission to operate the three closed stands, forcing the BCCI to make that call.

The Qualifier 1 will be played on May 07 in Chennai, which means the Chennai Super Kings have a chance to seal a finale spot at home if they finish in the top-two, whereas the Eliminator and Qualifier 2 will be played in Visakhapatnam on May 08 and May 10 respectively.

"We had to shift the matches from Chennai to Hyderabad after TNCA intimated us that they have not procured the requisite permission to open the three stands I, J and K," Vinod Rai, the Committee of Administrators chief, was quoted as saying by PTI. "Since the gate sales of the knock-out matches is BCCI's prerogative, we had to take a call.”