We might have to increase double-headers in IPL 2024: League Chairman Arun Dhumal

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have announced the schedule for the first 21 matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 and the remaining will be unveiled once the General Elections schedule is out. The IPL governing council is facing a challenge to conduct the tournament in the home-and-away format due to logistical issues exacerbated by the elections.

However, the IPL Governing Council Chairman, Arun Dhumal is confident of holding the entire tournament without any trouble like the General Election year 2019. Recently, Dhumal revealed that they’re planning to end the tournament by May 25 or 26 and hence will have to increase the double headers.

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“This time the challenge is that we are starting with the T20 World Cup in the first week of June, and we were planning to close the tournament by May 25 or May 26 as the team will have to travel to the US and that’s a different territory altogether,” Dhumal was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

“There could be a situation where we will have to keep a little bit of a gap, keeping election schedules in mind. We might have to increase double-headers, but we will be able to give better clarity once the polls are over,” he added.

Further speaking about Players’ exhaustion during the tournament due to more double headers this time around, Dhumal ensured that the schedule will be structured keeping players’ rest in mind.

“We have had double-headers in the IPL, so we are confident of coming up with a good schedule where they get some good rest in between and have enough time for their games in different venues,” Dhumal further said.

CSK and RCB to lock horns in the season opener

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Notably, the 17^th edition of the IPL will get underway on Friday, March 22 with the opening game between defending Champions Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. In the first phase, Gujarat Titans, RCB and Delhi Capitals will play the most number of matches i.e. five while Kolkata Knight Riders will play the least number of games i.e. three. The remaining six teams will play four games each in the first phase.