IPL 2021 to be played from April 9 to May 30 across six venues
The 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to commence on April 9th. A lot of speculations were being made around the BCCI managing to host the tournament in India amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Though crowds are returning to the stadiums and cricket has resumed to the fullest in the country, the rise in cases over the last week or so in some states has raised concerns.
? BCCI announces schedule for VIVO IPL 2021 ?
The season will kickstart on 9th April in Chennai and the final will take place on May 30th at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
More details here – https://t.co/yKxJujGGcD #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/qfaKS6prAJ
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 7, 2021
However, the Indian board seems confident of hosting the whole tournament in the country this time around after moving the 13th edition to the UAE. The tournament was delayed last year and played during the September-November period due to the outbreak of coronavirus across the world.
According to the statement released by BCCI, the season will kickstart on 9th April, 2021 in Chennai with a clash between defending champions Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore. The World’s Largest Cricket Stadium – Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is slated host the Playoffs and the final on 30th May 2021.
Each team will be playing at four venues during the league stage. Out of the 56 league matches, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata & Bengaluru will host 10 matches each while Ahmedabad and Delhi will host 8 matches each. However, all the matches shall be neutral and no team will be playing at their home ground. All teams will play at 4 out of 6 venues during the league stage.
There will be a total of 11 doubleheaders where 6 teams will play three afternoon matches and two teams will play two afternoon matches. The afternoon games are slated for a 3:30 PM IST start while the evening games will have a 7:30 PM IST start.
