The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 is all set to kick off on March 31, with defending champions Gujarat Titans taking on Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad. This marks the return of the league to its traditional home-and-away format in India for the first time since 2019. The final will also be held in Ahmedabad, on May 28.
Following the inaugural Women’s Premier League final on March 26, the opening weekend of the IPL will see all ten teams in action. On Friday, Titans will take on CSK, while Punjab Kings will face Kolkata Knight Riders in Mohali, and Lucknow Super Giants will play Delhi Capitals in Lucknow on Saturday, April 1. Sunrisers Hyderabad will then play Rajasthan Royals in Hyderabad, and Royal Challengers Bangalore will take on Mumbai Indians in Bengaluru on Sunday, April 2.
The teams have been divided into two groups, as was the case last season. Group A comprises Mumbai, Knight Riders, Royals, Capitals, and Super Giants, while Group B consists of Super Kings, Royal Challengers, Titans, Kings, and Sunrisers. Each team will play five teams twice – four from their own group and one from the other group – and four teams – the remaining from the other group – once.
The league phase comprises 70 matches across 52 days from March 31 to May 21, spanning 12 cities, and will feature 18 double-headers. In addition to the ten regular venues – Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, and Mohali – some matches will be played in Guwahati (Royals’ second home), and Dharamsala (Kings’ second home).
There will be a total of 18 double-headers during the league phase, scheduled for every Saturday and Sunday. Mumbai Indians and Super Kings, the two most successful teams in the IPL’s history, will meet twice, on April 8 and May 6, with the latter being the 1000th match in the IPL since its inception in 2008. Super Kings will be returning to their original home at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, or Chepauk, in Chennai.
IPL 2023 schedule
It has been a while since the league was played across all the traditional venues in India. In 2020, the tournament had to be postponed from the March-May window to September-November and moved to the UAE because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, there was an attempt to play in the Indian summer, but a breach of the bio-secure bubble led to the season being interrupted midway, and the second half of the season resumed in the UAE in September. In 2022, the tournament was played in the March-May window in India, but the entire league phase was played at venues in Mumbai and Pune, with the playoffs and final in Kolkata and Ahmedabad.
Last year, Gujarat Titans won the IPL title in their debut season under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya, beating Rajasthan Royals in the final in Ahmedabad. Cricket fans all around the world eagerly await the beginning of IPL 2023 and hope that the season goes smoothly and without any disruptions.
