Mumbai: When the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced fixtures for IPL 2024, last month, matches were listed for the first 17 days, from March 22 to April 7.
The incomplete schedule was obviously part of BCCI’s wait-and-watch policy, as the IPL was bound to clash with Lok Sabha elections.
There were reports that the second half of IPL could be moved to the UAE once the election schedule was announced.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) did release the full schedule on Saturday, with polling to be held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1, and results to be declared on June 4.
However, much to the delight of cricket enthusiasts in India, the entire 17th edition of the world’s most popular T20 league will be held in India.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah confirmed in an interview to Cricbuzz on Saturday that IPL 2024 won’t be moved out of India.
The IPL will kick off on March 22 with a match between last year’s champions Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Since the inception of IPL in 2008, the cash-rich tournament has clashed with general elections thrice. The entire 2009 IPL was held in South Africa, the first part of 2014 edition was conducted in the UAE but the entire 2019 IPL was played in India.
