IPL 2024 Schedule Highlights: Dhoni-Kohli face-off in opener as CSK host RCB on March 22, Hardik Pandya’s first assignment as MI captain against Gujarat

Two Australian pace spearheads, who broke many an Indian hearts only last November, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc were the bank-breaking buys at last year's auction in Dubai. Swiftly after the Australian skipper became the first player to cross the 20 crore INR ceiling - bought for 20.5 crore by SRH - Starc upstaged him after KKR went as high as 24.75 crore for the searing left-arm quick. In their first piece of action in the upcoming season, the two will share the field as KKR host SRH at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on March 23.

As a result of hosting 11 WPL games in a row including the final on March 17, the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) had requested the BCCI to move their first two home games of the IPL season elsewhere owing to less time in hand to prepare a fresh surface. Now it's official, Delhi Capitals' match against Chennai Super Kings (March 31) and Kolkata Knight Riders (April 3) will be played in Visakhapatnam.

Runner ups of the last season, Gujarat Titans to face off Mumbai Indians in their opening fixture on March 24 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. What a start it will be for skipper Hardik Pandya at Mumbai Indians, who'll start his tenure at MI against the team he led to two finals in two seasons!

Here's the schedule for the first 15 days of IPL 2024: 

(Screengrab: JioCinema)

Right then, it's official. The first match of IPL 2024 shall be between the defending champions MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Few flicks offer as much spice as Hardik Pandya's comeback to Mumbai Indians has in the past few months. The former Gujarat Titans captains has been promoted to that role at MI, replacing India's all-format skipper Rohit Sharma. A move MI's Talent Scout Parthiv Patel terms in plain and simple words: "MI ko sirf trophy jeetne se matlab hai (The only thing that matters to them is to win that trophy)."

Read the crux of the drama in Devendra Pandey's report here.

As the mini player-auction ahead of IPL 2024 concluded in Dubai on Tuesday, it threw up interesting facets as usual. From SRH buying themselves a headache to DC picking 6 wicketkeepers as Pant’s backup, here are the talking points from an action-packed day. (Read more)

-Taking a u-turn on the ‘easy money of franchise cricket’, Mitchell Starc breaks the ceiling at the IPL auction (Read here)

-Sameer Rizvi: Mamu saw potential, CSK spent Rs 8.40 crore for uncapped Rinku Singh-like finisher (Read here)

-Kumar Kushagra: Reminded of MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly promised that Delhi Capitals will bid even Rs 10 crore (Read here)

-Robin Minz: IPL’s big break for ‘Ranchi ka Gayle’ (Read here)

-Shubham Dubey: ‘I never thought I would get crores!’, says son of an unemployed father (Read here)

A look at how the franchises fared at the auction and the composition of their squads for the upcoming season. (All 10 teams)

A DDCA official said the final of the Women's Premier League will be played on March 17 and the Indian Premier League will kick start on March 22, the curators won't have enough time to prepare the pitches and that's why Delhi Capitals will play their first two matches in Visakhapatnam. (Read Pratyush Raj's report)

As confirmed by the IPL Chairman Arun Dhumal to The Indian Express: 

-The upcomings season shall kickstart from March 2022

-Despite Lok Sabha polls, it shall be staged in its entirety in India

-Schedule of the first 15 days to be announced first

It's that time of the year again. As another season of the Indian Premier League reckons, the BCCI will be announcing the schedule for the same on Thursday. It'll be another season held at the same time as the general elections, as it was in 2009, 2014 and 2019. And just like five years ago, it's been confirmed that the upcoming season will be staged in India. Stay tuned as we bring you all the updates.