This will be the first final in Kolkata in a decade, with Eden Gardens having previously hosted the 2013 and 2015 title matches.
The other two playoffs – Qualifier 1 on May 20 and the Eliminator on May 21 – will be played in Hyderabad, home of 2024 runners-up Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Royals, Delhi Capitals, Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans will play three afternoon matches each, while the other seven teams will play two day matches each. Last year’s afternoon matches had started at 3.30 pm IST.
There are 13 venues listed in the schedule: the primary home bases of each of the 10 teams along with with Guwahati (Royals’ second home venue), Visakhapatnam (Capitals’ second home venue) and Dharamsala (Punjab’s second home venue). While Guwahati and Vizag will host two matches each, three matches will be played in Dharamsala.
While Punjab have usually played two games per season at the picturesque HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala, the IPL has scheduled an extra game at the venue this season, with Capitals, Mumbai and LSG listed as Punjab’s opponents. These three matches will be played from May 4 to 11, which means Punjab are the only team to have a stretch of three back-to-back home matches. While several teams will be busy playing back-to-back matches with breaks of one or two days, no team will be on the road for three consecutive away matches.
As has been the case in every season since the IPL expanded to ten teams in 2022, the teams have been split into two groups, with KKR, RCB, Royals, CSK and Punjab in one group and SRH, Capitals, Titans, Mumbai and LSG in the other. Teams will meet the other teams in their group and one team in the other group – determined by seeding – twice, and the other four teams in the opposite group once.
CSK and Mumbai, for instance, will meet twice despite not being part of the same group.
After their March 23 contest, these two teams will meet again on April 20, again on a Sunday evening, with Mumbai hosting Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium. Four teams – RCB, Mumbai, Punjab and LSG – will all play their opening match away, and only play their respective first home matches in April. RCB, who scripted a miraculous return to form to make the playoffs last year with six consecutive wins after winning just one of their first eight matches, will end their league season with a sustained spell of home games: four of their last six matches will be at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
