Published on: Mar 7, 2021 3:10 pm IST|Updated on: Mar 7, 2021 5:06 pm IST
The much-awaited IPL schedule 2021 list has been officially announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will kickstart with the defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) locking horns with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Chennai on April 9. After almost 2 years of gap, the global IPL extravaganza will return home with Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru hosting the cricketing carnival.
The World’s Largest Cricket Stadium- Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will host the playoffs as well the grand finale on 30th May 2021 as per the IPL 2021 new schedule announced by the BCCI. The newly-built stadium that hosted the last two Test matches between India and England with great grandeur will be hosting its first-ever IPL. According to the IPL schedule 2021 list, each team is set to play at four venues during the league stage. Out of the 56 league-stage fixtures, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bengaluru will get to host a total of 10 games each while Ahmedabad and Delhi will host 8 games each. The BCCI has also that all the matches will be played at natural venues and thus, no team will play at their home venue in IPL 2021.
Related: IPL 2021: CSK skipper MS Dhoni arrives in Chennai
In a massive development, the BCCI has also stated that the VIVO IPL 2021 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. All the matches have been mapped in a way that every team will travel only three times during the league stage of the tournament. After hosting the previous edition of the IPL safely and successfully in the UAE by meeting all the COVID-19 protocols in place, the BCCI is confident of hosting the upcoming season at home with health and safety of players and all people involved being paramount.
IPL 2021: Strongest Playing 11 of all teams
According to the IPL teams 2021 list, there will be a total of 11 doubleheaders where 6 teams will play three afternoon games and two teams will play two afternoon games. Just like the last season, the afternoon matches will begin at 3:30 PM IST while the evening matches will have a 7:30 PM IST start.
IPL Time Table