IPL 2025 to begin on March 22, final on May 25

On Sunday, February 16, the IPL 2025 schedule was confirmed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The tournament will begin on March 22 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata when the reigning champion Kolkata Knight Riders play Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Qualifier 2 will take place on May 23 at the City of Joy’s renowned location, while the final will take place on May 25. For the first time since 2015, the summit clash will take place at Eden Gardens. The IPL final was first held at the stadium in 2013. The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, home field of the 2024 runners-up Sunrisers Hyderabad, will host the remaining two playoff games: the Eliminator on May 21 and the Qualifier 1 on May 20.

The IPL 2025 will include 12 doubleheaders and 74 games spread over 65 days.

On Sunday, March 23, the tournament’s second day will feature a doubleheader, with Sunrisers hosting Rajasthan Royals in the afternoon. The IPL’s El-Clasico, which pits the Chennai Super Kings against the Mumbai Indians at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in a matchup between two five-time champions, will come next.

The other seven clubs will each play two day games, with the Royals, Delhi Capitals, Lucknow Super Giants, and Gujarat Titans playing three afternoon games each.

The schedule lists 13 locations, including the main home bases of all 10 teams, Guwahati (the second home venue for the Royals), Visakhapatnam (the second home venue for the Capitals), and Dharamsala (the second home site for Punjab). Visakhapatnam and Guwahati will each host two games. Three matches will take place in the meanwhile at Dharamsala’s scenic Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium.

One group consists of the Chennai Super Kings, Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Knight Riders, and Royal Challengers. The Sunrisers, Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Titans, Mumbai, and Lucknow make up the other group. Depending on their seeding, teams will play each other in their group twice, one team in the other group once, and the other four teams in the other group once. For instance, even though they are not in the same group, CSK and Mumbai will play each other twice.