The full schedule for the group stages of the upcoming 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is out, which will see defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on Chennai Super Kings in the opening encounter of the season in Mumbai on 29 March.
However, BCCI is yet to make any official announcement in regard to the IPL 2020 schedule. In fact, the schedule for the knockout phase is yet to be announced.
According to the schedule released to the franchises and the broadcaster, there will be only six doubleheaders throughout the season and all of them will take place on Sunday.
Apart from the opening day and the last day of the league stage, which will be on March 29 and May 17, respectively, Sundays will feature two matches. In a first, there will be no double headers on Saturdays.
To accommodate the extra matches, the league stage has been extended by a week. The league stage for the 2020 season will thus be 50 days long, as opposed to 44 days last year.
Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders were the three franchises who shared their league campaign schedule on their social media accounts.
The Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knight Riders will be playing their inaugural game of the season on the 31 March in Bengaluru.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will also play the last league game against Mumbai Indians on 17 May.
Two-times champions Kolkata Knight Riders will play their first home match against Delhi Capitals on 3 April.
Meanwhile, Sunrisers Hyderabad will open their account against Mumbai Indians in Hyderabad on 1 April.
All seven franchises except for Rajasthan Royals have retained their home bases. The Royals have been offered two home venues -- Guwahati and Jaipur -- as options as the Rajasthan High Court is yet to decide on a PIL filed on the matter.
"The rules clearly say that you can play three of your home matches at a second venue as long as you have the clearance of the IPL GC. So, the Royals franchise is not doing anything that is against the policy," the source was quoted as saying by IANS.
The night games will continue to be played from 8 pm while the afternoon matches will start at 4 pm IST, as usual.
Meanwhile, BCCI has also planned an All-Stars Game between all top international players before the start of IPL for a charitable cause, which will most probably be held three days before the tournament begins.
IPL 2020 will start only 11 days after India's home ODI series against South Africa ends on March 18 in Kolkata.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)