The 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) will start on April 9 and its final will be held on May 30, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Sunday. Mumbai Indians face Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first match of the season which will be played in Chennai.
The matches will be played in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, the BCCI said on Sunday. The final will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. All matches will be played behind closed doors, with the BCCI saying that a call on allowing spectators will be taken at a later stage of the tournament.
"The World's Largest Cricket Stadium - Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will host the Playoffs as well as the final on 30th May 2021 which promises to be a visual spectacle. The newly-built stadium that hosted India's second pink-ball fixture at home with great grandeur will host its first-ever IPL," BCCI said in its release.
Each team is set to play at four venues during the league stage. Out of the 56 league matches, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru will host 10 matches each while Ahmedabad and Delhi will host 8 matches each. The board said that matches have been designed in such a way that each team will travel only three times during the league stage.
"One of the highlights of this edition of the VIVO IPL will be the fact that all matches will be played at neutral venues, no team will play at their home venue. All teams will play at four out of six venues during the league stage," said the BCCI in its statement.
There will be a total of 11 doubleheaders where six teams will play three-afternoon matches and two teams will play two-afternoon matches. The afternoon games are slated for a 3.30 p.m. IST start while the evening games will have a 7.30 p.m. start.
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"The fixtures of the tournament have been mapped in a way that every team will travel only three times during the league stage, thus reducing commute and minimising risk," it added.
"After hosting the tournament safely and successfully in the UAE last year with all safety protocols in place, the BCCI is confident of hosting the IPL at home with health and safety of players and all people involved being paramount," the release concluded.