The much-anticipated Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to begin on March 22 and will be held entirely in the country despite the coinciding general elections, league chairman Arun Dhumal said on Tuesday.
The elections are expected to be held in April and May and that is the main reason why the schedule for the IPL’s 17th edition has not been unveiled yet.
Dhumal said only the schedule of the first 15 days will be announced initially and the roster for the remaining games will be decided after the announcement of the general election dates.
The dates of the Lok Sabha polls are expected to be announced early next month.
“We are looking at a March 22 start for the tournament. We are working closely with the government agencies and we will first release the initial schedule. The entire tournament will be held in India,” said Dhumal.
Only in 2009, the IPL, in its entirety, was held overseas (South Africa) while the 2014 edition was partially held in the UAE due to the general elections.
However, in 2019, the tournament was held in India despite the elections.
With the T20 World Cup scheduled to begin on June 1, the IPL final is likely to be held on May 26. India will play their opening World Cup fixture against Ireland in New York on June 5.
As is the norm, the IPL opener will be played between last year’s finalists, winners Chennai Super Kings and runners-up Gujarat Titans.
The players’ auction for the 2024 season was held
in December last year. Mitchell Starc, roped in by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 24.75
crore, became the most expensive player in the history of the league.
