The IPL 2021 season will begin on April 9 in Chennai, with defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore, the BCCI announced on Sunday.
The final will be played on May 30 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motewra.
Meanwhile, 2020 season’s runners-up Delhi Capitals will kick-off their campaign on April 10 against Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai.
The board also said that the cash-rich league will be held in six cities — Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata.
The statement also said that each team will play in four of the six designated venues during the league stage.
Apart from the final, the knockout stages of the competition will also be held completely at the newly built Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
“Each team is set to play at four venues during the league stage. Out of the 56 league matches, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata & Bengaluru will host 10 matches each while Ahmedabad and Delhi will host 8 matches each. 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 4 out of 6 venues during the league stage,” the BCCI said in a statement.
“There will be a total of 11 double headers where 6 teams will play three afternoon matches & two teams will play two afternoon matches. The afternoon games are slated for a 3:30 PM IST start while the evening games will have a 7:30 PM IST start,” it added.