The first match of IPL 2025 will be played on March 21 in Kolkata. The final of the tournament will also be held here on May 25. At the same time, the third season of the Women's Premier League (WPL) will start from February 7 and will continue till March 2. This time the tournament will be played at 4 venues instead of 2.
According to a Cricinfo report, the IPL committee has sent the details of the start of the tournament to all the franchises, so that they can start their preparations with the players. Kolkata Knight Riders are the defending champions of the IPL, the team defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final.
The complete IPL schedule may be announced by the end of January.
The tournament will start late due to Champions Trophy The mega auction of IPL was held in November. After which the committee told all the teams the possible schedule for the next 3 years. According to which this time the tournament was to be held from March 15 to May 25. However, the final of the ICC Champions Trophy will be played on March 9. So BCCI has extended the start date of IPL by one week to give rest to the players.
The Champions Trophy will be played in Pakistan and UAE from February 19 to March 9. IPL will start after 2 weeks. Even if Team India reaches the final, the players will have enough time to rest.
The first match at the home of the defending champions It has been a tradition in the IPL that the first and final matches of the next season are played at the home ground of the defending champion team. In 2024, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the title in Chennai. So now the opening and final match will be held in Kolkata. However, it has not yet been announced which team KKR will face in the opening match.
74 matches will be played in the 18th season 2025 will be the 18th season of the IPL, the tournament started in 2008 and has been played every year since then. The 18th season will feature 74 matches between 10 teams, the same number of matches being played every season from 2022.
When the IPL sold its broadcast rights in 2022, it said there would be 84-84 matches in the 2025 and 2026 seasons. However, the committee is going to organize only 74 matches this time to manage the players' workload.
KKR won the IPL title after 10 years in 2024. The team's last win was in 2014.
WPL will be held at 4 grounds BCCI has also decided that this time WPL will be played on 4 grounds. Last season all the matches were played in Mumbai and Bengaluru, this time also both the venues got hosting. However, Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara and Ekana Stadium in Lucknow have also got hosting this time. These matches are to be held at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. How many matches will be held at which venue will be clear only after the schedule is announced.
WPL was launched in 2023. The title was won by Mumbai Indians in the first season and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the last season. Both teams defeated Delhi Capitals in the final. 22 matches will be played between 5 teams in the tournament.
Image Credit: Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).