IPL 2025 Schedule: Complete Match Details, Venues & Timings | KKR vs RCB to kick off the tournament

The moment for which we all were waiting for desperately has arrived! It's time for the Indian Premier League (IPL) fever and with the tournament just a month away from commencing, fans are eager to see their favorite teams in action. A piece of huge news regarding the forthcoming season of the mega T20 tournament, IPL 2025 has come out as the schedule has been unveiled. 

The official schedule of IPL 2025 was revealed on the Star Sports network, the official broadcaster of the tournament. Defending Champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be seen locking horns versus Rajat Patidar's Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the iconic Eden Gardens stadium of Kolkata. This means that two new captains will be seen facing off against each other in the opening contest. 

While Bengaluru have gone ahead with Rajat Patidar as their captain, Kolkata haven't announced their skipper yet for IPL 2025. It will be interesting to see which player they choose as the perfect fit for the captaincy role as the fans will have high expectations from them and they would love to see KKR lift the IPL trophy for the fourth time in front of their home crowd. 

Talking about the Playoffs, the knockout phase will kick off on the 20th of May as the first Qualifier will be played on the 20th of May in Hyderabad followed by the Eliminator on the 21st of May in Hyderabad again, 2nd qualifier on the 23rd of May and the all-important Final on the 25th of May

74 matches will be played in the upcoming season

The format of IPL 2025 is likely to remain the same as last year. The 10 teams of IPL, Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals, Punjab Kings, and Lucknow Super Giants will be battling it out versus each other in an intense manner as every team would want to get their hands on the precious IPL trophy in the forthcoming edition which will be held for a span of two months. 

This time there will be a total of 74 matches which will be played across a total of 13 venues including the playoffs and the all-important final. It's worth noting that the summit clash will also be played at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata.

Format of the tournament

The same format as IPL 2024 is set to be adopted this time as well, as the 10 participating teams will be divided into two groups. Each team will play a total of 14 matches versus each other in the league stage phase.

The top two teams in the points table will clash in the first qualifier, while the third and fourth-placed teams will play the eliminator. The team that loses in the first qualifier and the winner of the eliminator will clash against each other in the second qualifier. The winning team here will reach the final against the winner of the first qualifier.

EL Clasico of IPL

Two of the most successful teams in the history of the IPL, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) will be meeting each other twice in IPL 2025. The first El Clasico game will be played on the 23rd of March at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai while the reverse fixture will take place on the 20th of April at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. 

Both these rivals played just one game versus each other last season but this time around, things are going to be different and fans of both teams will get the chance to watch this intense rivalry twice. 

Full Schedule of IPL 2025

Do Read: Experienced Afghan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman joins the Mumbai Indians squad, replacing injured Allah Ghazanfar