Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Arun Dhumal confirmed on Monday that the 2025 edition of the league will begin on March 21.
The mega auction, held over two days in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in November last year, saw 182 players sold for Rs. 639.15 crores.
Dhumal added that the final schedule will be declared in consultation with all stakeholders within the next few days.
"IPL is starting in March. The scheduled time is set for March 21. And the schedule will come out within a few days," Dhumal said here today while interacting with mediapersons during the third edition of the Sansad Khel Mahakumbh.
He also said that there have been no major changes in the IPL rules, but he is hopeful that two to three matches will be held at the Dharamshala Cricket Stadium.
"Definitely, many national matches are being organised here in Bilaspur. Next time too, Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Vijay Hazare trophy, whatever the matches will be played, Bilaspur will definitely get an offer. It is an effort that Dharamshala also gets matches and will definitely get an offer. Hopefully, last time there were two, this time there will be three. No, there is no significant change in the rules. IPL is the most important cricket league in the world, where the players of the world come and play. And this tournament is organized with a very competitive spirit. And surely, this time it will be even better."
The third edition of the "Sansad Khel Mahakumbh" has started and the cricket tournament began on Monday at the Bilaspur cricket stadium. In all, 45 teams from all parts of the district are participating in this tournament which will go on till March.
Dhumal claimed that the Sansad Khel Mahakumbh has continuously been successful at bringing out promising players from villages and providing the sports infrastructure. According to him, the new talent which is emerging now in national games and other functions is more and more coming from rural areas.
"Be it the country level, if you look into cricket or any sport, whatever the talent is surfacing today is surfacing out of the village,". You take cricketers, whatever big names you see, whether you look at Shashwi Jaiswal, look at Rinku Singh, other players, they come from such a background, where there is no such support or background of the family, but they bring their talent to the field of play. Let me also talk about women cricketers.
"Renuka Singh Thakur, a girl from our Himachal, was the Women Cricketer of the Year of ICC last year. When such opportunities are organized here, then more and more talents will get the opportunity to show their talent. And I believe that in the coming time, it will be of great benefit to the country and the state," he concluded.
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