Internet Desk: The 10th edition of the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) will be staged between April 5 and May 21next year. Both the final and opening match of the tournament will take place in Hyderabad. The auction is set to take place on February 24 in Bengaluru.
There will be a gap of 10 days before the IPL final and ICC Champions Trophy in England. It also means, there would be less than a week’s gap for the Test players to play in the IPL after the four-match series against Australia which concludes on March 29.
The Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee had proposed a reformation to keep at least a 15-day gap between an international assignment and the IPL. But the proposed reforms will not have a bearing on the IPL dates, according to a BCCI official. The IPL Governing Council met in Delhi on Tuesday to finalize the dates.
It was also decided that Maharashtra will host IPL games this year after missing out on the opportunity the last time owing to severe drought.
“We will have water harvesting technology at stadiums in Maharashtra to counter drought threat in the state. We will ensure that we can generate our own water to maintain stadiums,” IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla told reporters after the meeting which was attended by BCCI president Anurag Thakur, BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke, former India captain Sourav Ganguly, Jharkhand Cricket Association chief Amitabh Choudhary and Punjab Cricket Association president MP Pandove.