The bells have started ringing among cricket fans as the 2025-edition of the Indian Premier Legaue (IPL) is about to begin from March 22. The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) announced about the fixtures which states with a blockbuster clash between defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) taking on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the first match. After this clash the “El-Classico” match is going to happen between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI).
Hardik Pandya-led MI do not have any away matches scheduled against the RCB and KKR and will face them just once. MI will host KKR on March 30 before playing the Rajat Patidar-led side on April 7 at the iconic venue. On the other hand, CSK, KKR, and RCB will play each other twice in the league stage.
Why Do Mumbai Indians Play Only One Match Against KKR and RCB?
Since the IPL expanded to 10 teams in 2022, the BCCI has so far opted against a double round-robin format in order to ensure the tournament has only 74 matches. Instead, the current format sees each team play five teams twice while they play four teams just once (2 only at home, 2 only away).
The BCCI divides the 10 teams into two groups, in which every team plays all teams in their group, and one team is from the other group twice. Each franchise faces the other four teams of the other group just once.
MI is in Group B, while KKR, RCB, and CSK are placed in Group A. Notably, Chennai-based CSK is the only team in Group A that will play both home and away matches.
IPL 2025 Group Table
| Group A | Group B |
|---|---|
| KKR | SRH |
| RCB | DC |
| RR | GT |
| CSK | MI |
| PBKS | LSG |
Among other major dates in the 2025 IPL, RCB and CSK will renew their heated rivalry on March 28 and May 3. KKR and RCB will also play their last league stage match against each other on May 17. The first qualifier and eliminator will take place in Hyderabad on May 20 and 21 before Kolkata hosts the second qualifier and final on May 23 and 25 respectively.
