IPL 2025 set to begin on..., WPL schedule announced, check out all the details

New Delhi: The upcoming 2025 IPL season is set to kick off on March 21, with Eden Gardens securing the honor of hosting both the opening match and the final on May 25. Fans can expect an action-packed tournament filled with exciting cricket matches. In addition, the 2025 WPL is slated to take place from February 7 to March 2, providing fans with even more cricketing entertainment to enjoy during the early part of the year. Get ready for a thrilling display of talent and competition in both of these prestigious tournaments.

Ahead of the mega auction in November, the IPL took the unprecedented step of providing franchises with the schedule windows for the next three seasons (2025-27). For 2025, the window was allocated from March 15 to May 25. However, with the Champions Trophy final slated for March 9, the IPL chose to maintain a nearly two-week gap between the tournaments, confirming March 21 as the start date. The complete IPL schedule is anticipated to be released later this month.

As usual, the defending champion’s home ground will host both the opener and the final. In this case, Eden Gardens, the home of the 2024 IPL winners Kolkata Knight Riders, will be the venue. Eden Gardens will also stage Qualifier 2, while Hyderabad will host the first two playoff matches: Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator.

The 2025 season will feature 74 matches, the same as the previous three seasons. This is 10 matches fewer than the 84 initially listed in the IPL’s 2022 media rights tender for the 2023-27 cycle. The rights document had proposed a variable number of matches: 74 in 2023 and 2024, 84 in 2025 and 2026, and up to 94 matches in 2027, the final year of the contract.