The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a franchise-based Twenty20 cricket tournament organised by the Indian board (BCCI).
First held in 2008, it quickly became the most lucrative cricket competition in the world, with a brand value of $12 billion, according to a December 2024 report by brand valuation consultancy firm Brand Finance.
Here is what you need to know about the 18th edition of the competition, which kicks off next month:
WHEN IS THE IPL HAPPENING?
* The 18th edition of the IPL runs from March 22 to May 25.
WHAT IS THE FORMAT OF THE IPL?
* The 10 participating teams are split into two groups. Each team play twice, home and away, against other teams in the group and the team in the same row in the other group, along with one match each against the remaining four teams from the opposite group, totalling 14 matches in the group stage.
* The top four teams in a unified points table will qualify for the playoffs. The top two teams will play each other in ‘Qualifier 1,’ with the winner reaching the final.
* The teams placed third and fourth will compete in the ‘Eliminator’ match where the winner will progress to ‘Qualifier 2,’ taking on the loser of ‘Qualifier 1’ for a place in the final.
* Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings, and Punjab Kings are in Group 1. Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Titans, Mumbai Indians, and Lucknow Super Giants are in Group 2.
WHERE IS THE IPL TAKING PLACE?
* The IPL is held in the home cities of the franchises based across India. However, some teams may choose to split their home games between two or more cities.
* The 2025 edition will be played across 13 venues.
* Eden Gardens, the home ground of defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders, will host the opening game, ‘Qualifier 2’ and the final. Sunrisers Hyderabad, who finished second in the table last season, will host the ‘Qualifier 1’ and ‘Eliminator’ matches.
WHO IS INVOLVED IN IPL 2025?
* Some of the biggest names in cricket from around the world will be in action, with England’s white-ball captain Jos Buttler fetching the highest price for an overseas player at 157.5 million Indian rupees ($1.81 million) at the player auction in November, joining Gujarat Titans.
* The teams spent over $72.51 million at the auction, with Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, signed by Lucknow Super Giants for $3.11 million, earning the highest price tag.
* World Cup-winning Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has retired from international cricket, will play for Chennai Super Kings. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who both retired from international T20 cricket after India won the 20-over World Cup last year, will also be in action for Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, respectively.
* Some former greats of the sport, who are present in the competition as coaches, are Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid, and Stephen Fleming coaching Punjab, Rajasthan, and Chennai, respectively.
* Players from India’s politically estranged rivals Pakistan have not played in the IPL since its opening edition in 2008.
Pakistan’s government barred its players from participating in IPL 2009, citing security concerns amid tense relations after the Mumbai militant attacks in November 2008.
Although Pakistan’s authorities cleared their players to participate in the next edition, Pakistani players were snubbed from IPL 2010 and have not featured in the competition since.
IPL 2025 FULL SQUAD LISTS
The following are the full squads of the 10 teams, who will play 74 matches in the competition through a league stage and a four-team playoffs.
Chennai Super Kings
Squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Ravichandran Ashwin, Vansh Bedi, Mukesh Choudhary, Devon Conway, Sam Curran, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Shivam Dube, Nathan Ellis, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Shreyas Gopal, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Anshul Kamboj, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Jamie Overton, Matheesha Pathirana, Shaik Rasheed, Rachin Ravindra, Vijay Shankar, Andre Siddarth, Gurjapneet Singh, Rahul Tripathi
Coach: Stephen Fleming
Best performance: Champions (2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, 2023)
Delhi Capitals
Squad: Harry Brook, Dushmantha Chameera, Faf du Plessis, Donovan Ferreira, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mukesh Kumar, Manvanth Kumar, Ajay Mandal, Karun Nair, Darshan Nalkande, Thangarasu Natarajan, Vipraj Nigam, Axar Patel, Abhishek Porel, KL Rahul, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Mitchell Starc, Madhav Tiwari, Tristan Stubbs, Tripurana Vijay, Kuldeep Yadav
Coach: Hemang Badani
Best Performance: Runners-up (2020)
Gujarat Titans
Squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Gurnoor Brar, Jos Buttler, Gerald Coetzee, Karim Janat, Arshad Khan, Rashid Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Kulwant Khejroliya, Sai Kishore, Prasidh Krishna, Kumar Kushagra, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Phillips, Kagiso Rabada, Anuj Rawat, Sherfane Rutherford, Ishant Sharma, Nishant Sindhu, Mohammed Siraj, Sai Sudharsan, Washington Sundar, Manav Suthar, Rahul Tewatia, Jayant Yadav
Coach: Ashish Nehra
Best performance: Champions (2022)
Kolkata Knight Riders
Squad: Moeen Ali, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Spencer Johnson, Umran Malik, Mayank Markande, Sunil Narine, Anrich Nortje, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ajinkya Rahane, Harshit Rana, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Luvnith Sisodia
Coach: Chandrakant Pandit
Best performance: Champions (2012, 2014, 2024)
Lucknow Super Giants
Squad: Rishabh Pant (captain), Shahbaz Ahmed, Ayush Badoni, Ravi Bishnoi, Matthew Breetzke, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Akash Deep, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Arshin Kulkarni, Shamar Joseph, Aryan Juyal, Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, David Miller, Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Manimaran Siddharth, Akash Singh, Digvesh Singh, Himmat Singh, Mayank Yadav, Prince Yadav
Coach: Justin Langer
Best performance: Playoffs (2022, 2023)
Mumbai Indians
Squad: Hardik Pandya (captain), Raj Angad Bawa, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Deepak Chahar, Naman Dhir, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Will Jacks, Bevon Jacobs, Ashwani Kumar, Robin Minz, Vignesh Puthur, Satyanarayana Raju, Ryan Rickelton, Mitchell Santner, Karn Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Krishnan Shrijith, Arjun Tendulkar, Reece Topley, Tilak Varma, Lizaad Williams, Suryakumar Yadav
Coach: Mahela Jayawardene
Best performance: Champions (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020)
Punjab Kings
Squad: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash, Xavier Bartlett, Harpreet Brar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Praveen Dubey, Lockie Ferguson, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Marco Jansen, Musheer Khan, Glenn Maxwell, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kuldeep Sen, Suryansh Shedge, Arshdeep Singh, Harnoor Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Yash Thakur, Vishnu Vinod, Nehal Wadhera, Vijaykumar Vyshak.
Coach: Ricky Ponting
Best performance: Runners-up (2014)
Rajasthan Royals
Squad: Sanju Samson (captain), Jofra Archer, Yudhvir Charak, Tushar Deshpande, Shubham Dubey, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Kwena Maphaka, Riyan Parag, Nitish Rana, Kunal Rathore, Ashok Sharma, Sandeep Sharma, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Maheesh Theekshana
Coach: Rahul Dravid
Best performance: Champions (2008)
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Squad: Virat Kohli, Jacob Bethell, Manoj Bhandage, Swastik Chikara, Rasikh Salam Dar, Tim David, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Liam Livingstone, Lungi Ngidi, Devdutt Padikkal, Krunal Pandya, Rajat Patidar, Mohit Rathee, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Suyash Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Abhinandan Singh, Swapnil Singh, Nuwan Thushara
Coach: Andy Flower
Best performance: Runners-up (2009, 2011, 2016)
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Squad: Pat Cummins (captain), Zeeshan Ansari, Sachin Baby, Brydon Carse, Rahul Chahar, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Eshan Malinga, Abhinav Manohar, Kamindu Mendis, Harshal Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammad Shami, Abhishek Sharma, Simarjeet Singh, Atharva Taide, Jaydev Unadkat, Aniket Verma, Adam Zampa
Coach: Daniel Vettori
Best performance: Champions (2016)
IPL 2025 FIXTURES
Matches will kick off at 1930 IST (1400 GMT) unless stated.
1: March 22 – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Kolkata)
2: March 23 – Sunrisers Hyderabad vs. Rajasthan Royals (Hyderabad, 1530 IST)
3: March 23 – Chennai Super Kings vs. Mumbai Indians (Chennai)
4: March 24 – Delhi Capitals vs Lucknow Super Giants (Visakhapatnam)
5: March 25 – Gujarat Titans vs Punjab Kings (Ahmedabad)
6: March 26 – Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders (Guwahati)
7: March 27 – Sunrisers Hyderabad vs. Lucknow Super Giants (Hyderabad)
8: March 28 – Chennai Super Kings vs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Chennai)
9: March 29 – Gujarat Titans vs. Mumbai Indians (Ahmedabad)
10: March 30 – Delhi Capitals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (Visakhapatnam, 1530 IST)
11: March 30 – Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings (Guwahati)
12: March 31 – Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders (Mumbai)
13: April 1 – Lucknow Super Giants vs Punjab Kings (Lucknow)
14: April 2 – Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs. Gujarat Titans (Bengaluru)
15: April 3 – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (Kolkata)
16: April 4 – Lucknow Super Giants vs. Mumbai Indians (Lucknow)
17: April 5 – Chennai Super Kings vs. Delhi Capitals (Chennai, 1530 IST)
18: April 5 – Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals (New Chandigarh)
19: April 6 – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants (Kolkata, 1530 IST)
20: April 6 – Sunrisers Hyderabad vs. Gujarat Titans (Hyderabad)
21: April 7 – Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Mumbai)
22: April 8 – Punjab Kings vs Chennai Super Kings (New Chandigarh)
23: April 9 – Gujarat Titans vs. Rajasthan Royals (Ahmedabad)
24: April 10 – Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs. Delhi Capitals (Bengaluru)
25: April 11 – Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders (Chennai)
26: April 12 – Lucknow Super Giants vs. Gujarat Titans (Lucknow, 1530 IST)
27: April 12 – Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Punjab Kings (Hyderabad)
28: April 13 – Rajasthan Royals vs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Jaipur, 1530 IST)
29: April 13—Delhi Capitals vs. Mumbai Indians (Delhi)
30: April 14—Lucknow Super Giants vs. Chennai Super Kings (Lucknow)
31 : April 15 – Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders (New Chandigarh)
32: April 16 – Delhi Capitals vs. Rajasthan Royals (Delhi)
33 : April 17 – Mumbai Indians vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (Mumbai)
34: April 18 – Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Punjab Kings (Bengaluru)
35: April 19 – Gujarat Titans vs Delhi Capitals (Ahmedabad, 1530 IST)
36: April 19 – Rajasthan Royals vs. Lucknow Super Giants (Jaipur)
37: April 20 – Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (New Chandigarh, 1530 IST)
38 : April 20 – Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings (Mumbai)
39 : April 21 – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Gujarat Titans (Kolkata)
40: April 22—Lucknow Super Giants vs. Delhi Capitals (Lucknow)
41: April 23 – Sunrisers Hyderabad vs. Mumbai Indians (Hyderabad)
42: April 24 – Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs. Rajasthan Royals (Bengaluru)
43 : April 25 – Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (Chennai)
44 : April 26 – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings (Kolkata)
45 : April 27 – Mumbai Indians vs Lucknow Super Giants (Mumbai, 1530 IST)
46 : April 27 – Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Delhi)
47: April 28 – Rajasthan Royals vs. Gujarat Titans (Jaipur)
48: April 29 – Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders (Delhi)
49: April 30 – Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings (Chennai)
50: May 1 – Rajasthan Royals vs. Mumbai Indians (Jaipur)
51: May 2 – Gujarat Titans vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (Ahmedabad)
52: May 3 – Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs. Chennai Super Kings (Bengaluru)
53 : May 4 – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals (Kolkata, 1530 IST)
54 : May 4 – Punjab Kings vs Lucknow Super Giants (Dharamsala)
55: May 5 – Sunrisers Hyderabad vs. Delhi Capitals (Hyderabad)
56 : May 6 – Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Titans (Mumbai)
57 : May 7 – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings (Kolkata)
58 : May 8 – Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals (Dharamsala)
59 : May 9 – Lucknow Super Giants vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Lucknow)
60: May 10 – Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders (Hyderabad)
61: May 11 – Punjab Kings vs Mumbai Indians (Dharamsala, 1530 IST)
62: May 11 – Delhi Capitals vs. Gujarat Titans (Delhi)
63: May 12 – Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals (Chennai)
64: May 13 – Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad (Bengaluru)
65: May 14 – Gujarat Titans vs. Lucknow Super Giants (Ahmedabad)
66: May 15 – Mumbai Indians vs. Delhi Capitals (Mumbai)
67: May 16 – Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings (Jaipur)
68: May 17 – Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Kolkata Knight Riders (Bengaluru)
69: May 18 – Gujarat Titans vs Chennai Super Kings (Ahmedabad, 1530 IST)
70 : May 18 – Lucknow Super Giants vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (Lucknow)
71: May 20—Qualifier 1 (Hyderabad)
72: May 21 – Eliminator (Hyderabad)
73 : May 23 – Qualifier 2 (Kolkata)
74: May 25 – Final (Kolkata)
–Reuters
