The 2025 IPL is set to start on March 21, with Eden Gardens hosting both the tournament opener as well as the final on May 25. It is also understood that the 2025 WPL will be held between February 7 and March 2.
Ahead of the mega auction in November, the IPL, in an unprecedented move, had shared with the franchises the windows for the next three seasons (2025-27). For 2025, the window was earmarked between March 15 and May 25. However, with the 2025 Champions Trophy final scheduled for March 9, the IPL has decided to keep close to a two-week gap between the tournaments. in March 21 as the start date. The full IPL schedule is expected to be out later this month.
As has generally been the case, the home venue of the defending champions will host the opener and final, which this time will be Eden Gardens, home base of Kolkata Knight Riders who won the 2024 IPL. While Eden Gardens will also host Qualfier 2, the first two matches in the playoffs - Qualifier 1 and Eliminator - will be played in Hyderabad.
The 2025 season will comprise 74 matches, the same as the last three seasons. That number, though, is ten less than the 84 matches listed by the IPL in 2022 when the media rights for the 2023-27 cycle were sold. In the tender document for the new rights cycle, the IPL had listed a varying number of matches per season: ranging from 74 games each in 2023 and 2024, 84 matches each in 2025 and 2026, and a maximum of 94 games for the final year of the deal in 2027.
Four venues shortlisted for WPL
The BCCI has also decided to add two new venues for the WPL. Along with Mumbai and Bangalore, the WPL will also be played in Baroda and Lucknow this year. The exact number of matches at each venue is not known as the WPL schedule is not yet out.