 "BCCI VP Rajiv Shukla reveals new start dates for IPL 2025 and WPL 2025")
India’s cricketing season is on the horizon, as the official statement made by BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla after the General Body meeting on Sunday suggests that the 2025 season of India’s franchise-based cricket leagues, i.e., Indian Premier League and Women’s Premier League, is set to commence on March 23 and February 7, respectively. Similarly, the finals of both tournaments will take place on May 25 and March 2, respectively. Earlier, some reports suggested that IPL 2025 would kick off on March 14, but it seems the BCCI is allowing players to have some rest after the ICC Champions Trophy, whose final is scheduled to take place on March 9.
WPL 2025: Venues
Rajiv Shukla also informed that WPL 2025 would be played across four venues, i.e., Baroda, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Lucknow, which means four out of five WPL teams will be able to enjoy home crowd support in 2025, with only the two-time finalists Delhi Capitals being the team to play all games at away venues. The exact number of matches at each venue is yet to be finalised.
IPL 2025: Number of matches
IPL 2025 will once again have 74 matches, as seen in the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Earlier, it was reported that the IPL 2025 and 2026 seasons would feature 84 matches, while IPL 2027 would host a staggering 94 matches in the season. But the BCCI does not seem to be in the mood to increase the workload of players by extending the number of matches and is sticking with the old format for at least one more season.
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IPL 2025: Schedule
The BCCI is expected to host another General Body meeting on January 18, and the official schedule of IPL 2025 and WPL 2025 might be one of the talking points during the discussions. Fans can expect the BCCI to announce the full schedule by the end of January 2025.