India’s biggest cricket festival, the Indian Premier League (IPL) is back. The first match of IPL 2024 is to be played in Chennai on March 22, as per reports, and it will be hosted by ‘Thala’ Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team, Chennai Super Kings (CSK). However, the second team that will face CSK is not decided yet.
According to Cricbuzz, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will announce the schedule for the initial 10-12 days only due to Lok Sabha Elections 2024, and the rest of the schedule will be announced after the dates of the elections are announced.
“Initially, we will announce the programme for the first 10-12 days,” IPL Chairman, Arun Singh Dhumal said.
Will IPL be shifted out of India due to elections?
The IPL Chairman has also exuded confidence that the league will not have to be moved out of the country due to elections, and there might be more centers involved than 10. Dhumal made it clear that the league won’t happen overseas. “That is why we are waiting for Lok Sabha election dates, so that we can plan the venues accordingly,” Dhumal said to Indian Express.
The full schedule of the IPL will be announced in the second or third week of March when the Election Commission of India announces the polling dates.
This is also not the first time that IPL has coincided with the general elections. In 2009, the second season of the IPL was moved to 2009 in South Africa, while in 2014, the first 20 matches of the season were played in UAE and the rest were played in India.
In 2019, all the IPL games were scheduled in India despite the Lok Sabha elections. Thereby, the IPL Chairman is confident that the arrangements will be made to hold the entire tournament in India.
Why is the 2024 IPL so exciting?
The upcoming edition of IPL will be interesting for a number of reasons. Fans will be eager to watch former Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper Hardik Pandya lead Mumbai Indians (MI) for the first time in the history of IPL.
Secondly, Gautam Gambhir is back as a mentor with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) after a gap of five years. Gambhir will be guiding the team from behind, as Shreyas Iyer comes back to lead the KKR into IPL 2024. Further, Mitchell Starc’s addition to the team, on whom KKR spent a whopping amount of Rs 24.75 crore will be interesting to watch.
Then we will see Pat Cummins lead Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) into this new season, as the Orange Caps will look forward to shed their losing streak and win the trophy once again.
Similarly, uncapped players who were sold at hefty prices based on their domestic performances like Sameer Rizvi ( Rs 8.4 crore), Shahrukh Khan (Rs 7.2 crore), and Shubham Dubey (Rs 5.80 crore) will be out to watch.
Last but not least, this will also be CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s last IPL, and the skipper would look to finish it with a high with a second trophy in a row.
