IPL 2020 | CSK and MI to kick-off proceedings on September 19 as BCCI announces official schedule

After months of delay and weeks of speculation, the BCCI, finally, on Friday, released the full schedule for the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). As rumoured and expected, defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will take on three-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the first match of the tournament on September 19 in Abu Dhabi.

While the idea was always to pit the two powerhouses against each other in the very first game, 13 members of the CSK camp testing positive put the plan in jeopardy, but the rest of the CSK unit - barring the 13 - testing negative has enabled the board to go ahead with the original plan. 

After the tournament opener on Saturday, Dubai will host its first game on Sunday when Delhi Capitals take on Kings XI Punjab followed by the third match on Monday between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

As revealed earlier, a total of 60 matches will be played across three venues - The Dubai International Stadium in Dubai, The Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi and The Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah.

The 13th edition of the tournament will feature a total of 10 double-headers and, as announced by the board earlier, all games will have a 30-minute preponed start as compared to the previous editions. What this basically means is that regular games will start at 7:30 PM IST instead of the classic 8:00 PM time slot and on double-header days, the first of the two games will have a 3:30 PM IST start.

The IPL action will shift to Sharjah on Tuesday, 22nd September where Rajasthan Royals will host Chennai Super Kings. In all, 24 matches will be held in Dubai, 20 in Abu Dhabi and 12 in Sharjah. Venues for the playoffs and final will be announced later.

You can find the full fixtures here.