IPL 2022 to begin on March 26; 70 matches across 4 venues with teams divided in two groups

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season will begin from March 26 and run till May 29, said the IPL Governing Council on Friday.

The IPL Governing Council, in a meeting on Friday, also said that the 15th edition of the IPL will be played in a bio-secure environment at a single hub to avoid air travel, considered as a major threat for the spread of COVID-19 infection, thereby affecting the players and tournament.

The tournament will be held entirely in the state of Maharashtra with 55 matches in Mumbai and 15 matches in Pune.

A total of 70 league matches will be played across four international-standard venues in Mumbai and Pune -- Wankhede Stadium and DY Patil Stadium to host 20 matches each, while Brabourne Stadium and MCA International Stadium, Pune will host 15 matches each. The venue for the playoff matches will be decided later.

All teams will play four matches each at Wankhede Stadium and DY Patil Stadium while featuring in three matches each at Brabourne Stadium and MCA International Stadium, Pune.

The 10 teams, with the addition of Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans, will play a total of 14 league matches (seven home as well as away), followed by four playoff matches.

Each team will play five teams twice while facing the remaining four teams only once (two only home as well as away).

To decide which teams will play against whom, teams have been divided in two virtual groups based on the number of times being crowned the IPL Champions followed by the number of times the teams reached the final of the tournament.

Group A comprises of Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants.

Group B includes Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans.

Each team will play twice with the teams in their group and with the team in the same row in the second group. With the rest of the teams in the second group they will play only once during the season.

For example, in Group A, Mumbai will play two matches each against Kolkata, Rajasthan, Delhi and Lucknow. Mumbai will also play two matches against Chennai and one match each against other teams in Group B.

Similarly, in Group B, Bangalore will play two matches against Chennai, Hyderabad, Punjab and Gujarat. Bangalore will also play two matches against Rajasthan and one match each against other teams in Group A.