To the cricket fans all over the globe, hurry up! Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 is only a few days away, and it will be full of high-quality cricket that we all love. It's time to dig deep into the season, from the IPL match schedule to the IPL teams that have been changed.

IPL 2025 Overview

The IPL 2025 marks the 18th edition of this celebrated tournament. It is scheduled from March 22 to May 25, 2025, thus the worldwide fans can be ready for 74 supercharged matches. The defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders, will have their season kick-off, and this will be through a a thrilling opener against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, which will happen at the world-renowned Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Eden Gardens, however, is not only the venue of the opening match but it will also host Qualifier 2 and the grand finale on May 25. In the meantime, the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad shall be the Qualifier 1 venue and it will also accommodate the Eliminator to make sure that fans at the different locations will have the playoff excitement too.

Tournament Format

This season continues with the engaging format we've come to love. The ten IPL teams are divided into two groups:

Group A:

• Chennai Super Kings
• Kolkata Knight Riders
• Punjab Kings
• Rajasthan Royals
• Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Group B:

• Delhi Capitals
• Gujarat Titans
• Lucknow Super Giants
• Mumbai Indians
• Sunrisers Hyderabad

In every group, each team faces their competitors once as well as the team from the other group that is in the same row as them, and the other teams just once. This type of structure guarantees an equal and thrilling beginning of the tournament and finally a well-deserved position for the top four teams in the playoffs.

Player Auctions and Team Updates

The IPL 2025 player auction was an extremely exciting festivity. Records tumbled, and new kids on the block took the stage:

• The new player Rishabh Pant made a million-dollar deal of £2.54 million with the Lucknow Super Giants and thereby toppled the records of all IPL players.
• Shreyas Iyer wasn't left behind as the Punjab Kings got him for the price of £2.4 million.
• In a bewildering move, Rajasthan Royals went for 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi paying over £100,000, thus, making him the youngest IPL player. This junior professional gaining popularity and attention is the recent one from Indian cricket who has come into the limelight after a staggering century for India Under-19.
• In the global scene, Jofra Archer was offered a £1.2 million deal by the Rajasthan Royals, after struggling with a contract dispute initially.

Among the players that were up for a bid, there were a few who didn't find buyers as well. The experienced players like James Anderson who had set a base price of ₹1.25 crore (£118,000) were up for sale but no buyers came forth due to the league being sometimes dynamic and unpredictable.

Venues and Match Timings

The IPL 2025 will be organized at 13 different places, offering people an experience of the action in different regions. Such distinguished areas are as follows:

• Eden Gardens, Kolkata: Hosting the opener, Qualifier 2, and the final.
• Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad: Hosting Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator.
• Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
• M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
• M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
• Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
• Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Match timings are set to cater to both local and international audiences:

• Afternoon matches: 3:30 PM IST
• Evening matches: 7:30 PM IST

Moreover, franchises such as the Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals, and Punjab Kings shall also participate by holding a few of their home matches at the stadium in these cities.

Broadcasting and Viewership

JioStar's recent move to acquire the IPL 2025 broadcasting rights JioStare proved to be very successful. At the same time, live matches will be shown by Star Sports, and by JioHotstar they will be streamed digitally.

Correspondingly, sports lovers don't have to choose one of the platforms but are offered the opportunity to watch the full action on both platforms.

Given new production growth, the merger between JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar is expected to provide viewers with a unique streaming experience, which will include various commentaries and interactive options.

What to Expect This Season

In the IPL 2025, a mix of the old guard as well as young blood will be the highlight. With talent such as Vaibhav Suryavanshi erupting onto the scene and extraordinary players like Rishabh Pant running teams, the Prairie Dogs are in for some fierce competition. The fans will see:

• The matches on the batsman-friendly pitches will witness high scores.
• Thrilling moments of the matches (especially during the playoffs).
• Impressive performances of both domestic and international players.

Your mind will be antagonized by the time; so, make sure you are fully equipped with all accessories and are in full support of the teams of your liking in the IPL.Mark the date on your calendar, don't forget to set reminders and look forward to enjoying a cricketing extravaganza the way it's not been done yet.

The Indian Premier League continues to come up with new ideas and IPL 2025 is supposed to be a crowning moment for the league.