The IPL next year will run from March 14 to May 25, the BCCI has told the IPL franchises while also setting aside similar windows for the event's 2026 and 2027 editions in an uncharacteristically elaborate plan.
The BCCI has also shortlisted injury-prone England pacer Jofra Archer, Indian-born American pacer Saurabh Netravalkar, and uncapped Mumbai wicketkeeper-batter Hardik Tamore for the two-day mega players' auction scheduled to take place in Jeddah from Sunday.
The Board has clarified that the announcement of dates for the next three seasons is being made simultaneously to "assist the franchises in planning for the players' auction." The 2026 edition will begin on March 15, and the grand finale has been scheduled for May 31.
The 2027 edition will begin on March 14, with the final on May 30. All three finals will be played on Sundays.
The BCCI had plans to increase the number of matches in the IPL to ensure it runs for 10 and a half weeks, and looking at the windows set aside, it looks imminent that the league's game count will increase.
The IPL 2025 auctions are scheduled to take place on November 24 and 25 in Saudi Arabia, at Jeddah - for only the second time, the IPL auctions will take place outside India. The previous auction took place in 2024 in Dubai.
The total players who have made it to the final pool of auction were 574. Those include 48 capped Indian players as well as 193 capped overseas players.
However, with the 10 franchises retaining a combined total of 46 players, only 204 slots remain to be filled, as each team can have a maximum of 25 players in its squad. Further to this, every squad is allowed a maximum of eight overseas players, leaving just 70 overseas spots available.
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