The Indian Premier League, the biggest money spinning tournament in the country, is all set to begin on March 23. The IPL has released a schedule for the first two weeks for its 2019 season. MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings who are the defending champions will battle it out against Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore in the tournament opener.
The IPL 2019 is preponed due to the Lok Sabha elections scheduled around the same time. However, the polling dates are yet to be declared. BCCI in a statement said that once the elections dates are announced, they will prepare a schedule for the remainder of the season working with the local authorities.
“This is still subject to the announcement of Lok Sabha 2019 election dates. Once the election dates are released we will address any issues with the first two weeks and also prepare a schedule for the remainder of the season working with the local authorities around the polling dates,” read the statement.
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The same situation had risen in 2009 and 2014, where the IPL was shifted to South Africa (completely) and UAE (partially) respectively. But, this year the board in consultation with the CoA decided to schedule it in India itself.
In the first two weeks beginning from March 23, a total of 17 matches will be played. All the teams except the Delhi Capitals and the Royal Challengers Bangalore will play five games each. Every team will play minimum of 2 home and 2 away matches with DC will play 3 home matches, while RCB will play 3 away matches.
? Announcement ?: The #VIVOIPL schedule for the first two weeks is out. The first match of the 2019 season will be played between @ChennaiIPL and @RCBTweets
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) February 19, 2019
Details – https://t.co/wCi6dYHlXL pic.twitter.com/TaYdXNKVSx
IPL 2019 Schedule : March 23 to April 5
| Date | Day | Time | Match | Venue |
| 23 March | Saturday | Evening | CSK Vs RCB | Chennai |
| 24 March | Sunday | Afternoon | KKR Vs SRH | Kolkata |
| 24 March | Sunday | Evening | MI Vs DC | Mumbai |
| 25 March | Monday | Evening | RR Vs KXIP | Jaipur |
| 26 March | Tuesday | Evening | DC Vs CSK | Delhi |
| 27 March | Wednesday | Evening | KKR Vs KXIP | Kolkata |
| 28 March | Thursday | Evening | RCB Vs MI | Bangalore |
| 29 March | Friday | Evening | SRH Vs RR | Hyderabad |
| 30 March | Saturday | Afternoon | KXIP Vs MI | Mohali |
| 30 March | Saturday | Evening | DC Vs KKR | Delhi |
| 31 March | Sunday | Afternoon | SRH Vs RCB | Hyderabad |
| 31 March | Sunday | Evening | CSK Vs RR | Chennai |
| 1 April | Monday | Evening | KXIP Vs DC | Mohali |
| 2 April | Tuesday | Evening | RR Vs RCB | Jaipur |
| 3 April | Wednesday | Evening | MI Vs CSK | Mumbai |
| 4 April | Thursday | Evening | DC Vs SRH | Delhi |
| 5 April | Friday | Evening | RCB Vs KKR | Bangalore |
