The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced the schedule for the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League which will kick off in Chennai on April 9 with defending champion Mumbai Indians facing Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opener.
The final will take place on May 30 in the world’s largest cricket ground, the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The stadium in Motera will also host the Playoffs.
The BCCI said that the tournament will likely take place without spectators in the initial stages.
All the matches will be played at neutral venues, no team will play at their home venue, the statement read. Every team will play at only four out of the six stadiums during the league stage. Out of the 56 league matches, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru will host 10 matches each while Ahmedabad and Delhi will host 8 matches each.
“The IPL this year at home will be played behind closed doors to begin with and a call on allowing spectators will be taken at a later stage of the tournament,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement.
“The fixtures of the tournament have been mapped in a way that every team will travel only three times during the league stage, thus reducing commute and minimising risk.
“After hosting the tournament safely and successfully in the UAE last year, the BCCI is confident of hosting the IPL at home with health and safety of players and all people involved being paramount,” he added.
There will be a total of 11 double headers, where the afternoon games are slated for a 3.30 pm IST start while the evening games will have a 7.30 pm IST start.
Check out the full schedule here:
