Mumbai Indians to take on KKR in opening match of IPL
Chennai: Defending champions Mumbai Indians opening the Indian Premiere League by squaring off against Kolkata Knight Riders on April 16 in Abu Dhabi.
The IPL Governing Council announced the schedule for the first phase of the tournament after a meeting.
The UAE leg of the IPL, a part of which has been shifted out of the country due to general elections, will wind up on April 30 with Mumbai facing Sunrisers Hyderabad in Dubai.
The second leg of the tournament has been tentatively kept for Bangladesh but could be held in India between May 1-12 if the government agrees to provide security to the event.
The IPL has been refused security by the government as its schedule is clashing with the general elections, scheduled to be held in nine phases from April 7 to May 12.
The last leg of the IPL from May 13, including the play-offs and the final slated for June 1, will be held in India.
This is the second time the event has had to be forced out of the country due to elections. In 2009, the entire tournament had to be shifted to South Africa, a country which was in contention to host the event even this time.
Due to the lesser number of teams, the duration of the league has also been shortened this time to 47 days and 60 matches — much less than the 76 games played last season which was spread over 54 days.
