IPL 2024, highly anticipated, is slated to kick off on March 22 and will take place solely within the country, despite the coinciding general elections, league chairman Dhumal conveyed to PTI on Tuesday.
“The elections are anticipated to take place in April and May, which is why the schedule for the 17th edition of IPL has not been revealed yet. Speaking to PTI, Dhumal mentioned that initially, only the schedule for the first 15 days will be announced. The fixtures for the remaining games will be determined after the announcement of the general election dates.”
The Lok Sabha polls dates are expected to be announced early next month.
“We are looking at a March 22 start for the tournament. We are working closely with the government agencies and we will first release the initial schedule. The entire tournament will be held in India,” said Dhumal.
In 2009, the entire IPL was held overseas (South Africa), while in 2014, a portion of the edition took place in the UAE due to the general elections.
However, in 2019, the tournament took place in India despite the elections. With the T20 World Cup starting shortly after the IPL’s conclusion, it is anticipated that the final will be held on May 26.
India’s World Cup campaign will kick off against Ireland in New York on June 5, with the ICC event starting on June 1 with a clash between USA and Canada. As is the norm, the IPL opener will feature last year’s finalists, the winners Chennai Super Kings against the runner-up Gujarat Titans. The player auction for the 2024 season took place in December last year, where Australian pacer Mitchell Starc made history as the most expensive player in IPL history, being bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 24.75 crore.