Eden Gardens, the home ground of IPL 2024 champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), will host both the tournament opener of IPL 2025 on March 22 and the final on May 25.
The venue will also stage Qualifier 2 on May 23. This marks the first time in a decade that Kolkata will host the IPL final, having previously done so in 2013 and 2015.
The other two playoff matches will take place in Hyderabad, the home ground of 2024 runners-up Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Qualifier 1 is scheduled for May 20, followed by the Eliminator on May 21.
The 2025 edition of the IPL will feature 74 matches over a span of 65 days, including 12 double-headers. The tournament opener will see KKR take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in an evening match.
The action will continue with a double-header on March 23, where SRH will host Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the first game, followed by a highly anticipated clash between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI), both five-time champions.
Royals, Delhi Capitals (DC), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), and Gujarat Titans (GT) will each play three afternoon matches, while the remaining seven teams will play two day matches each. Afternoon matches will continue to start at 3:30 PM IST, as they did last season.
A total of 13 venues have been included in the IPL 2025 schedule. Apart from the primary home grounds of all ten teams, Guwahati (Royals' second home), Visakhapatnam (Capitals' second home), and Dharamsala (Punjab Kings' second home) will also host matches.
Guwahati and Vizag will host two matches each, while Dharamsala will stage three matches.
Punjab Kings will play three consecutive home matches at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala from May 4 to 11, facing Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians, and LSG.
This makes Punjab the only team with a three-game home stretch. Additionally, no team will play three consecutive away matches.
As in previous seasons since the IPL expanded to ten teams in 2022, the teams have been divided into two groups.
Group 1 consists of KKR, RCB, Royals, CSK and Punjab Kings, while Group 2 includes SRH, Capitals, Titans, MI and LSG.
Each team will face all other teams in their group and one team from the opposite group twice, while playing the remaining four teams in the other group once.
Despite being in separate groups, CSK and Mumbai will meet twice in the season. Their first encounter will take place on March 23, followed by a rematch on April 20 at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.
Four teamsRCB, MI, Punjab Kings, and LSGwill begin their campaigns with away matches and will not play their first home games until April.
RCB, which made a dramatic late run to qualify for the playoffs last season after a poor start, will play four of their last six league matches at their home ground, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, providing them with a strong finish to the group stage.
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