IPL 2018: Tournament Dates Announced, Match Timings Changed

IPL Commissioner Rajiv Shukla revealed the dates for IPL 2018.

Mumbai Indians won the IPL last year.

(Photo: BCCI)

The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held from 7 April to 27 May with the tournament opener and final to be played in Mumbai, the IPL Governing Council (GC) announced on Monday, 22 January.

The opening ceremony will take place in Mumbai on 6 April.

Accepting broadcaster Star Sports' request, the IPL GC has also allowed a shift in timings of the matches. The 8pm game will now begin at 7pm while the 4pm start has now been pushed to 5.30pm.

"As far as the double headers on weekends are concerned. The 4pm game will now be played at 5.30pm. There will be an overlap but the broadcaster says it has enough channels to show the games simultaneously," Shukla said further.

At the meeting, it was also decided that Kings XI Punjab will play four of their home games in Mohali and three in Indore.

The home matches of Rajasthan Royals, who are returning to IPL after serving a two-year ban, will be finalised after the Rajasthan High Court's hearing on 24 January.

"The matter is in court. I think on 24th (Wednesday), the court may dispose off the matter. We are waiting for that.

Preference will given to Jaipur if the stadium is ready and court clears RCA's status. If that doesn't happen, the alternate venue will be Pune," said Shukla.

The IPL had on Saturday, 20 January, announced that this year’s IPL auction, scheduled to be held in Bengaluru on 27 and 28 January, would feature 578 players. With 18 players retained, 182 slots are up for grabs.

This year's auction will see the return of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals after completing their two-year ban from the cash-rich tournament.

A total of 62 capped Indians and 298 uncapped Indian cricketers will vie for the available slots with 182 capped overseas cricketers, 34 uncapped overseas players and 2 cricketers from Associate Nations.

(With inputs from PTI.)

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