IPL 2019: BCCI Announce IPL Schedule For First Two Weeks

The BCCI, on Tuesday, released the schedule of the first two weeks for the forthcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) . The BCCI had already announced the starting date but had delayed the scheduled due to the unclarity over the date of the upcoming general elections. But on Tuesday, the board released the schedule of the first 17 games while the whole schedule is still subject to the announcement of the Lok Sabha election dates.

Once the election date is announce, the BCCI will address any issues with the first two weeks and will also prepare a schedule for the remainder of the season working with the local authorities around the polling dates. This is the first time the IPL is being held entirely in India despite the elections. In 2009, the BCCI had shifted the whole tournament to South Africa. Five years later, the initial part of the tournament was played in UAE before returning to India. However, the BCCI has already announced that the whole tournament will be played at home this year.

According to the released schedule, a total of 17 matches will be played during this 2 weeks period across the 8 home venues of the respective franchises. All teams will play minimum of 4 matches with Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore playing 5 matches. Every team will play minimum of 2 home and 2 away matches with DC playing 3 home matches, while RCB will play 3 away matches.

Chennai Super Kings are the defending champions, having defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final last year.

Keeping with the rules, the reigning champions will kickstart the tournament in a mouth-watering clash with Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai on March 23. The last game of the two-week schedule will be played on April 5 between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders in Bengaluru.

Here is the schedule of the first two weeks of the Indian Premier League: