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The BCCI on Thursday unveiled the schedule for the first 15 days of the 17th season comprising 21 matches, with defending champions Chennai Super Kings facing Royal Challengers Bangalore in Match 1 in Chennai.
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.