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Indian T20 League schedule released (Source: Twitter)
The Indian T20 League released its schedule on February 17, Friday. Defending champions Gujarat led by Hardik Pandya will face MS Dhoni’s Chennai in the opener on March 31 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad at 7:30 PM IST. Every team will play seven home and seven away games across 12 venues. Ahmedabad, Mohali, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Jaipur, Mumbai, Guwahati and Dharamsala have been decided as the 12 venues for the premier T20 tournament.
There are 70 league matches, including 18 double-header days in the schedule for this year. The last league stage game will be played on May 21, with the season’s final to be played in Ahmedabad on May 28.
Indian T20 League 2023 Groups:
Group A
Mumbai, Rajasthan, Kolkata, Delhi and Lucknow.
Group B
Chennai, Punjab, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Gujarat.
First five matches of the Indian T20 League 2023
Chennai vs Gujarat - March 31.
Punjab vs Kolkata - April 1.
Lucknow vs Delhi - April 1.
Hyderabad vs Rajasthan - April 2.
Bangalore vs Mumbai - April 2
In the previous season, Hardik Pandya's all-around performance helped the Gujarat Franchise win the Indian T20 League in its maiden season with a seven-wicket victory over the Rajasthan franchise in the final game. Gujarat skipper Pandya took 3 for 17, including the vital wicket of Jos Buttler for 39, to restrict Rajasthan to 130 for 9 and then hit 34 off 30 balls in an all-around captain's display.
It is only fitting that the defending champions Gujarat meet four-time champions Chennai at one of the biggest cricket stadiums in the world for the first game. MS Dhoni will be playing his last home game on May 16 at Chennai against the Kolkata franchise. Dhoni's Chennai will play their second game vs Lucknow on April 3, which will also be their first home game. Chennai meets their arch rivals Mumbai on April 8 at Wankhede stadium. The return fixture will be played on May 6 in Chennai.
Five-time winners Mumbai will play their first match vs Bangalore on April 2 at the M Chinnaswamy stadium. The other signature clash will be between MS Dhoni's Chennai and Virat Kohli's Bangalore on April 17 in Bengaluru.