The format of Indian Premier League (IPL) has been changed ahead of the upcoming 2022 season, starting March 26.
The IPL Governing Council announced on Friday that all the 10 teams would be divided into two groups with five sides in each group.
The 10 teams will play a total of 14 league matches (7 home matches and 7 away fixtures), making the tally of league games to 70, followed by the 4 playoff matches. Each team will play 5 teams twice and the remaining 4 teams only once (2 only home and 2 only away).
“A total of 70 league matches will be played across four international standard venues in Mumbai and Pune. The venue for the playoff matches will be decided later,” said BCCI in an official release.
Reigning champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are placed in Group B while the five-time title winners Mumbai Indians (MI) are in Group A. Here are the full details of both groups:
- Group A: Mumbai Indians (MI), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Delhi Capitals (DC) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
- Group B: Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Gujarat Titans
Each side will play twice against the teams in their group and against the team in the same row in the other group. Likewise, against the remaining four teams in the other group, each side will play only once.
For example, the two-time champions KKR will play twice in the league stages against MI, RR, DC, LSG and SRH (the team in the same row in the other group). The Knight Riders would play only once against CSK, RCB, PBKS and GT.
Notably, this is not the first time such a format would be used in the cash-rich league. A similar format had been used for the 2011 edition when IPL had two new teams in the form of Pune Warriors India and Kochi Tuskers Kerala.
