Reports: IPL 2018 season opener to be played on April 5

The most likely schedule for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 has been revealed. The 11th edition of the tournament is expected to kick off with the opening game on April 5 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

As per reports, the mega final of the first season of a new decade of IPL will be played on 21st May. Traditionally, the two finalists of the previous edition take on each other in the first match of the following version of the tournament. But this time around it will be a different scenario since Rising Pune Supergiant team no longer exists in the league and Mumbai Indians will have a different opponent.

It is expected that the team to replace RPS will be one of the two returning franchises Chennai Super Kings. So we will see Rohit Sharma’s brigade take on MS Dhoni‘s men and the league couldn’t have had a better and bigger start.

The retentions

Earlier this month, all the eight franchises had an option to retain a maximum of 3 players from those who last represented them. Along with that, the franchises also have an option to use the RTM (Right To Match) card in the players’ auction where they can hold on to another two or three players based on the number they retained.

The IPL Governing Council decided to allow CSK and Rajasthan Royals to stake a claim on players who held a contract with them in 2015 before the teams were suspended. But only those who had then been signed up by either Rising Pune Supergiant or Gujarat Lions.

CSK opted to retain their skipper MS Dhoni, his deputy Suresh Raina and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. RR, on the other hand, decided to retain just one player in Australian captain Steve Smith who is also expected to lead the team.

The auction for the 2018 edition of the IPL is scheduled to be held on January 27 and 28 in Bengaluru.