A few weeks ago, it was revealed that the Indian Premier League (IPL) would start on March 15. However, it has now been moved back by a week to begin on March 21. The tournament’s final will be staged on May 25. Talks have been going on about the beginning of the Women’s Premier League (WPL).
Ahead of the mega auction of the IPL 2025 in November, the committee, in an unprecedented move, shared the franchises’ windows for the next three seasons until 2027. For the upcoming edition of 2025, the window has been slotted between March 15 and May 25.
The decision to delay the 18th season of the 20-over franchise league follows the recent announcement of the ICC Champions Trophy, which will begin on February 19 and run until March 09. India will play all of its games at the Dubai International Stadium in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Also Read: Devajit Saikia Replaces Jay Shah To Shoulder Responsibility As New BCCI Secretary
The IPL governing body decided to keep a close gap of nearly two weeks between the two marquee tournaments, which will allow the franchises to gather their players together before March 21. The entire schedule of the league is anticipated to be out later this month.
Eden Gardens in Kolkata to host IPL 2025 opener and final
As has been the case in the past, the home venue of the defending champions will host the opening clash and the season finale. Hence, the three-time champions, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), will be kicking the tournament off at Eden Gardens, which will also host the second qualifier of the event along with the final.
The runners-up of the tournament, Sunrisers Hyderabad, will be hosting the first two fixtures of the playoffs, the first qualifying contest and the eliminator, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
The 2025 season will be comprised of 74 clashes as in the last three seasons. It’s, however, ten games fewer than the 84 scheduled encounters that took place during the 2022 season of the IPL when the media rights of the 2023-27 cycle were sold with the new side, Gujarat Titans, under the leader of premier Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya ended up being the new champions of the competition.
In a tender document for the new rights cycle, the IPL committee has listed a different range of games per season. For the last couple of seasons, there were 74 games in 2023 and 2024. However, there will be an addition of ten fixtures during 2025 and 2026. Another boost of ten games will make it a maximum of 94 games for the last season in 2027 of the deal.
Also Read: Yograj Singh Takes U-turn To Praise MS Dhoni As ‘Aggressive And Motivated Captain’
Last time, the KKR side finished as the top side of the group stage with the help of nine victories and three defeats in 14 clashes. The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the home base of GT, hosted the first two qualifiers, while the MA Chidambaram Stadium, the base of the IPL 2023 winners Chennai Super Kings (CSK), arranged the second qualifier and final.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has also decided to include two new venues for the Women’s Premier League (WPL). Along with Mumbai and Bengaluru, the league will also be played in Baroda and Lucknow this year. The Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi also hosted the second phase of the WPL 2024. The exact number of the games per venue is still unknown as the full schedule is yet to be published.