The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the schedule for the first 21 matches of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season on Thursday.
Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will host Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chepauk’s MA Chidambaram stadium on March 22.
This will be the ninth time that CSK will kickstart the tournament by playing the first match of the season after 2009, 2011, 2012, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022 & 2023.
Fans were asked to pick a team as their opponent for the first game and more than 50% voted for a CSK vs RCB opener with Mumbai Indians second in the race. The defending champions always open the IPL season on their home ground.
DC to play first 2 home games in Vizag
Delhi Capitals will not be playing their first two home fixtures at the Arun Jaitely Cricket Stadium as the venue will not be ready to host the matches. They will have to play two home games in Vizag.
The schedule has been announced for the first 17 days of season 17 from March 22 to April 7. There will be 4 double headers in this time frame.
The Indian cricket board is expected to announce the rest of the schedule after the Election Commission of India announces the General Election dates.
BCCI
The BCCI announced the first 17 days of the fixtures only due to general elections which will be held between April and May this year.
The board is keen to host the entire IPL season in India but might be forced to take it out of the country once again.
Notably, the IPL has been played overseas twice before in 2009 (South Africa), 2014 (UAE) due to its dates clashing with the general elections in India. It was again hosted by the United Arab Emirates in 2020 due to the Covid-19 crisis in India.
