The BCCI ended speculation surrounding the
schedule for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024
by unveiling the fixtures list on Thursday. There is one catch though — the schedule released is only for the first 15 days of of the season comprising 21 matches.

This is not the first time the BCCI has shied away from unveiling the full schedule for what is considered the marquee T20 league in the sport. They had unveiled the dates and venues for the playoffs on 22 April last year, nearly a month into the 16th season.

This time however, the reasons are different. The IPL, after all, is clashing with the Lok Sabha Election for the fourth time and conducting a sporting event at the same time as the General Election does have an impact on its scheduling.

In a release shared on Thursday, the BCCI made it clear that the board would be working closely with government and security agencies and unveil the schedule for the remainder of the season once the Election officials unveiled polling dates for the General Election.

“As in the past, the BCCI will work closely with government and security agencies, following all necessary protocols and advisories related to the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections in India. Once the dates for the 18th Lok Sabha elections are announced, the Board will review and address any issues pertaining to the schedule of the first two weeks.

“Subsequently, the BCCI will work in tandem with local authorities to finalize the schedule for the remainder of the season, taking into account the polling dates,” read the BCCI statement.

The tournament had to be shifted entirely out of the country in 2009, with the second edition taking place in South Africa. Five years later, the first few fixtures of the 2014 edition were staged across three venues in the United Arab Emirates.

The 2019 edition, however, was first IPL season clashing with the Lok Sabha Election that took place entirely within the country.

Though not officially confirmed by the BCCI, the IPL final will reportedly take place on 26 May, six days before the ICC T20 World Cup that will be jointly hosted by the United States and West Indies, gets underway.

MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings had defeated the Gujarat Titans in last year’s IPL Final, and it was revealed beforehand that the men in yellow will take part in the opening match. With RCB confirmed as their opponents, the opener will see the battle of India’s two stalwarts, Dhoni and Virat Kohli.

Some of the mouth-watering clashes in the initial fixture list include Hardik Pandya’s return to Ahmedabad on March 24, as he dons the Mumbai Indians colours against former franchise Gujarat Titans. Lucknow Super Giants, meanwhile, will take on the RCB in Bengaluru on April 2.

Take a look at the franchise-wise fixture list spanning the first 15 days of the tournament:

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Fixtures:

March 22: CSK vs RCB in Chennai

March 26: CSK vs GT in Chennai

March 31: DC vs CSK in Visakhapatnam

April 5: SRH vs CSK in Hyderabad

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Fixtures:

March 22: CSK vs RCB in Chennai

March 25: RCB vs PBKS in Bengaluru

March 29: RCB vs KKR in Bengaluru

April 2: RCB vs LSG in Bengaluru

April 6: RR vs RCB in Jaipur

Punjab Kings (PBKS) Fixtures:

March 23: PBKS vs DC in Mullanpur

March 25: RCB vs PBKS in Bengaluru

March 30: LSG vs PBKS in Lucknow

April 4: GT vs PBKS in Ahmedabad

Delhi Capitals (DC) Fixtures:

March 23: PBKS vs DC in Mullanpur

March 28: RR vs DC in Jaipur

March 31: DC vs CSK in Visakhapatnam

April 3: DC vs KKR in Visakhapatnam

April 7: MI vs DC in Mumbai

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Fixtures:

March 23: KKR vs SRH in Kolkata

March 29: RCB vs KKR in Bengaluru

April 3: DC vs KKR in Visakhapatnam

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) Fixtures:

March 23: KKR vs SRH in Kolkata

March 27: SRH vs MI in Hyderabad

March 31: GT vs SRH in Ahmedabad

April 5: SRH vs CSK in Hyderabad

Rajasthan Royals (RR) Fixtures:

March 24: RR vs LSG in Jaipur

March 28: RR vs DC in Jaipur

April 1: MI vs RR in Mumbai

April 6: RR vs RCB in Jaipur

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Fixtures:

March 24: RR vs LSG in Jaipur

March 30: LSG vs PBKS in Lucknow

April 2: RCB vs LSG in Bengaluru

April 7: LSG vs GT in Lucknow

Gujarat Titans (GT) Fixtures:

March 24: GT vs MI in Ahmedabad

March 26: CSK vs GT in Chennai

March 31: GT vs SRH in Ahmedabad

April 4: GT vs PBKS in Ahmedabad

April 7: LSG vs GT in Lucknow

Mumbai Indians (MI) Fixtures:

March 24: GT vs MI in Ahmedabad

March 27: SRH vs MI in Hyderabad

April 1: MI vs RR in Mumbai

April 7: MI vs DC in Mumbai

Punjab Kings IPL 2024 Full Schedule: Perennial underachievers Punjab Kings will take on Delhi Capitals in their IPL 2024 opening fixture on March 23 at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.

The IPL schedule for the upcoming season was partially announced as the BCCI is awaiting the Election Commission of India’s decision on the General Election dates.

Rajasthan Royals (RR) Schedule, IPL 2024 One-time Champion Rajasthan Royals will take on Lucknow Super Giants in their IPL 2024 opening fixture on March 24 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

The IPL schedule for the upcoming season will be released in phases as the BCCI is awaiting the Election Commission of India’s decision on the General Election dates.

Kolkata Knight Riders IPL 2024 Full Schedule: Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL 2024 opener on March 23 at Kolkata.

The IPL schedule for the upcoming season was partially announced as the BCCI is awaiting the Election Commission of India’s decision on the General Election dates.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) Schedule, IPL 2024: One-time champion Sunrisers Hyderabad will take on Kolkata Knight Riders in their IPL 2024 opening fixture on March 23 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata

The IPL schedule for the upcoming season will be released in phases as the BCCI is awaiting the Election Commission of India’s decision on the General Election dates.

Gujarat Titans (GT) Schedule, IPL 2024: 2022 IPL champions Gujarat Titans will take on Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League 2024 opener on March 24 at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad.

Gujarat, will be led by Shubman Gill from this season after they lost their talismanic captain Hardik Pandya to the Mumbai Indians after the IPL auction. Under Pandya’s captaincy, Gujarat had claimed the title in their inaugural season and had reached the final last time around, where they had lost to the Chennai Super Kings.

The first trophy of the season is up for grabs on Sunday afternoon as the Carabao Cup final takes place, while eight Premier League matches also take place.

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Premier League fixtures

Saturday (3pm kick off unless stated):

• Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest
• Brighton v Everton
• Crystal Palace v Burnley
• Manchester United v Fulham
• Bournemouth v Manchester City (5:30pm)
• Arsenal v Newcastle (8pm)

Sunday:

• Wolves v Sheffield United (1:30pm)
• Chelsea v Liverpool (Carabao Cup final, 3pm)

Monday (8pm kick off):

With no lunchtime kick-off taking place in the Premier League on Saturday, the four matches starting at 3pm will see the league’s first action of the weekend, which includes an all-Midlands battle between two former European champions as Aston Villa take on Nottingham Forest.

Elsewhere, relegation threatened Everton make the trip to Brighton to take on the Europe-chasing side, Crystal Palace host Burnley in a match between two sides struggling at the wrong end of the table, and Manchester United welcome Fulham to Old Trafford.

The evening kick off sees defending champions Manchester City make the trip to the Dorset coast to take on Bournemouth before fans are treated to some Saturday night action as Arsenal host Newcastle at 8pm.

Wolves take on the Premier League’s bottom side Sheffield United in the only league game on Sunday, before the weekend’s main event, the Carabao Cup final takes place at Wembley in the afternoon, with Chelsea and Liverpool going head to head for the first trophy of the season.

Monday night’s game sees a London derby take place as West Ham welcome Brentford to the London Stadium.

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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) revealed the schedule for the first phase of the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday, with the first match set to be played between defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on 22 March.

CSK will get their title defense underway at their home ground, MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. As is tradition, the defending champions get the new edition underway. CSK had beaten GT in last year’s thrilling IPL final.

The schedule was made public for only the first 15 days of competition with the remaining to be announced when the Election Commission of India (ECI) announces the Lok Sabha election dates.

It was earlier announced by IPL chairman Arun Dhumal that the league would begin on 22 March and wrap up on 26 May. Like the 2023 edition, this year’s IPL will feature 74 matches, but with a duration of 67 days instead of 60. The BCCI has extended the schedule by one week to accommodate the Lok Sabha elections anticipated for April or May.

This mirrors the approach taken in 2019, with the fixtures announced in two parts. In line with that edition, the IPL will be held entirely in India, foregoing the 2009 and 2014 editions where it was held fully and partially overseas.

IPL 2024 schedule for first 15 days:

Match 1 on 22 March: Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore at 8 PM IST

Match 2 on 23 March: Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals at 3:30 PM IST

Match 3 on 23 March: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad at 7:30 PM IST

Match 4 on 24 March: Rajasthan Royals vs Lucknow Super Giants at 3:30 PM IST

Match 5 on 24 March: Gujarat Titans vs Mumbai Indians at 7:30 PM IST

Match 6 on 25 March: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Punjab Kings at 7:30 PM IST

Match 7 on 26 March: Chennai Super Kings vs Gujarat Titans at 7:30 PM IST

Match 8 on 27 March: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians at 7:30 PM IST

Match 9 on 28 March: Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Capitals at 7:30 PM IST

Match 10 on 29 March: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders at 7:30 PM IST

Match 11 on 30 March: Lucknow Super Giants vs Punjab Kings at 7:30 PM IST

Match 12 on 31 March: Gujarat Titans vs Sunrisers Hyderabad at 3:30 PM IST

Match 13 on 31 March: Delhi Capitals vs Chennai Super Kings at 7:30 PM IST

Match 14 on 1 April: Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals at 7:30 PM IST

Match 15 on 2 April: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Lucknow Super Giants at 7:30 PM IST

Match 16 on 3 April: Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders at 7:30 PM IST

Match 17 on 4 April: Gujarat Titans vs Punjab Kings at 7:30 PM IST

Match 18 on 5 April: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Chennai Super Kings at 7:30 PM IST at 7:30 PM IST

Match 19 on 6 April: Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore at 7:30 PM IST

Match 20 on 7 April: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals at 3:30 PM IST

Match 21 on 7 April: Lucknow Super Giants vs Gujarat Titans at 7:30 PM IST