The 2019 Indian Premier League will kick off on March 31 in Ahmedabad with Gujarat Titans, the defending champions, taking against the four-time champion Chennai Super Kings. Last year, the Titans, captained by Hardik Pandya, won the championship in their inaugural campaign.

According to the schedule announced by the BCCI on Friday, there will be a total of 52 round-robin matches.The first double-header of the season will see Punjab Kings taking on Kolkata Knight Riders in Mohali and Lucknow Super Giants facing Delhi Capitals in Lucknow on April 1. While the weekdays will feature one match, double headers are scheduled every Saturday and Sunday.

The league matches end on May 21, with a tie between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Titans in Bangalore. After staging the league across Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad in the last edition, the 16th season will revert to the home and away format, where all the teams will play seven home games and as many away matches respectively in the league stage.

As per BCCI, a total of 70 league stage matches will be played across 12 venues over the course of 52 days. The IPL 2023 will have 18 double headers, with the day games starting at 3:30 PM and the evening matches beginning at 07:30 in the evening. Rajasthan Royals will play their first two home games in Guwahati before playing the remainder of their home matches in Jaipur.

Punjab Kings will play their five home matches in Mohali and their last two home games in Dharamshala against Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals respectively. The schedule and venues for the play-offs and final will be announced later. The summit clash will be played on May 28

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IPL 2023 begins on March 31, first crack between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings