New Delhi, Feb 16: Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will face Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL 2025 opening match at their home ground Eden Gardens on March 22. The ten-team tournament will begin almost two-weeks after the Champions Trophy ends on March 9.

The schedule was announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) through broadcasters JioHotstar on Sunday, with 13 venues set to host 74 IPL 2025 matches over 65 days.

Kolkata is also slated to host Qualifier 2 (on May 23) and the title clash on May 25, while Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator will be hosted by Hyderabad on May 20 and 21 respectively. Kolkata had previously hosted the IPL 2013 and 2015 finals, where Mumbai Indians (MI) had emerged victorious.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), runners-up in IPL 2024, will host 2008 champions Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on March 23. Later that evening, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI), the two most successful teams in IPL’s history with five titles each, will face off at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in what is also the first double-header of IPL 2025.

CSK and MI will later meet for the reverse clash at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 20. Delhi Capitals (DC) will begin their IPL 2025 campaign against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Visakhapatnam on March 24, while 2022 champions Gujarat Titans (GT) are slated to open their campaign against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Ahmedabad on March 25.

Visakhapatnam and Guwahati will host two home matches each of DC and RR respectively, while PBKS will play its three home games in Dharamsala. KKR and DC are yet to announce their new captains for the IPL 2025 season. RCB, meanwhile, recently appointed Rajat Patidar as their new captain while Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant were previously announced as new skippers of PBKS and LSG respectively.

--IANS

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