The Big Bash League (BBL) kicks off on Sunday, December 15 with its 14th edition. With the windows getting shorter and shorter, the leagues in December-January-February are always fighting for the availability of the players but with its legacy, dynamic rules, outstanding broadcast, vibrant kits and having the early mover advantage of beginning more than three weeks before SA20 and International League T20, BBL still has its identity in intact. Also, since the international Australian players are back in the mix this time around and a bigger pool of overseas players, the BBL 2024-25 promises to be an exciting season.
Melbourne Stars, led by a new captain Marcus Stoinis, kick off the tournament against the five-time champions Perth Scorchers. The perennial underperformers of the league will miss their star and former skipper Glenn Maxwell for the start of the tournament but with the likes of Joe Clarke and Sam Harper in the order, the Men in Green would hope to begin well while Scorchers will be what Scorchers do, stay in the top half of the table.
In terms of recruitment, Sydney Thunder have done well in terms of off-season signings and overseas players, which have done well and Melbourne Renegades too, who have been below-par in the last couple of seasons. Yes, the national players will come in late but it should be a good and short season with the final scheduled for January 27.
The BBL matches are a bit weird and random in terms of match timings because time zones between Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth are different and some days there is one match, and on a few, there is a double-header. Generally, the evening matches kick off at around 1:45 PM IST in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Hobart with the Perth game having a 3:30-4 PM IST start. On double-header days, the first game begins at around 10:30 AM IST with the time stretching to 12:30 PM when the second match is in Perth, which as mentioned kicks off at around 3:45 PM IST. So yeah, it can get a lot; hence, it is advised to follow the day-by-day schedule.
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However, there will be no difficulty in following the matches as there are no multiple broadcasters. If you tune into Star Sports 2 and Star Sports 2 HD on TV and Disney+ Hotstar online through the app or the website at any of the above given timings as per the schedule, you should be able to catch BBL 14 matches.
