Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru will face each other just once in the 2025 IPL |courtesy - BCCI/IPL
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Mumbai Indians will play RCB and KKR at home
- MI will face CSK twice
- KKR, RCB, and RCB will play each other home and away
The countdown for the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) has well and truly began as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the schedule of the 18th edition of the tournament which will take place from 22nd March to 25th May.
The tournament will start with a blockbuster clash between defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Eden Gardens on March 22. Just 24 hours later, the tournament's two most successful side Mumbai Indians will travel to Chennai to play the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
MI and CSK will play each other once again on 20th April at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. However, the Hardik Pandya-led side do not have any away matches scheduled against the RCB and KKR and will face them just once. MI will host KKR on March 30 before playing the Rajat Patidar-led side on April 7 at the iconic venue.
On the other hand, CSK, KKR, and RCB will play each other twice in the league stage.
Why Do Mumbai Indians Have Just One Match Against KKR and RCB
Since the IPL expanded to 10 teams in 2022, the BCCI has so far opted against a double round-robin format in order to ensure the tournament has only 74 matches. Instead, the current format sees each team play five teams twice while they play four teams just once (2 only at home, 2 only away).
The BCCI divides the 10 teams into two groups, in which every team plays all teams in their group, and one team is from the other group twice. Each franchise faces the other four teams of the other group just once.
MI are part of Group B while each of KKR, RCB, and CSK are in Group A. The Chennai-based franchise are the only team from Group A, which they will have to play both home and away.
IPL 2025 Groups
| Group A |
Group B |
| KKR |
SRH |
| RCB |
DC |
| RR |
GT |
| CSK |
MI |
| PBKS |
LSG |
Among other major dates in the 2025 IPL, RCB and CSK will renew their heated rivalry on March 28 and May 3. KKR and RCB will also play their last league stage match against each other on May 17. The first qualifier and eliminator will take place at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad on May 20 and 21 before Kolkata hosts the second qualifier and final on May 23 and 25 respectively.
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