IPL SCHEDULE: MI-CSK to play opener, final in Mumbai

Defending champions Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings will play the first match of IPL 11 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 7 and the final will be played at the same venue on May 27 as the Governing Council announced the schedule for IPL 11 on Wednesday. Mumbai Indians, being the champions of last edition were an automatic choice to host the opening ceremony and final of the tournament. The defending champions will host the first qualifier. However, the venue for the second qualifier and eliminator were not announced by BCCI, mainly due to the absence of last year’s runner-up Rising Pune Supergiant. 60 matches, including the play-offs will be played across 9 venues in 51 days. The first double header will be held on April 8 with Delhi Daredevils hosting Kings XI Punjab in the first game, followed by a clash between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Eden Gardens.There are 12 double headers in total.

NEWS: VIVO Indian Premier League 2018 fixtures announced

The 11th edition of the world's most popular and competitive T20 tournament will be played at nine venues across 51 days. Full schedule here - https://t.co/yqVFDc9tTF #IPL2018 pic.twitter.com/qNKraLChA7 — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) February 14, 2018

In another notable announcement, the BCCI chose not to tinker with the timings of the double headers. Broadcasters Star Sports had requested the board to change the timings of the double headers from 4 PM IST to 5.30 PM IST and 8 PM IST to 7 PM IST, to which the board initiailly agreed but later on had to change their decision because of issues raised by the franchises. This IPL will mark the return of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals after serving a two-year ban. Royals will play their home matches in the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur. They will play their first match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 9. FULL SCHEDULE Saturday 7th April 2018 Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings Match 1, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Sunday 8th April 2018 Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab Match 2, 16:00 IST (10:30 GMT), Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi Kolkata Knight Riders v Royal Challengers Bangalore, Match 3, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Eden Gardens, Kolkata Monday 9th April 2018 Sunrisers Hyderabad v Rajasthan Royals, Match 4, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Rajiv Gandhi Intl. Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad Tuesday 10th April 2018 Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders Match 5, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Wednesday 11th April 2018 Rajasthan Royals v Delhi Daredevils Match 6, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Thursday 12th April 2018 Sunrisers Hyderabad v Mumbai Indians Match 7, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Rajiv Gandhi Intl. Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad Friday 13th April 2018 Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kings XI Punjab Match 8, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru Saturday 14th April 2018 Mumbai Indians v Delhi Daredevils Match 9, 16:00 IST (10:30 GMT), Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Kolkata Knight Riders v Sunrisers Hyderabad Match 10, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Eden Gardens, Kolkata Sunday 15th April 2018 Royal Challengers Bangalore v Rajasthan Royals Match 11, 16:00 IST (10:30 GMT), M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru Kings XI Punjab v Chennai Super Kings Match 12, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore Monday 16th April 2018 Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils Match 13, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Eden Gardens, Kolkata Tuesday 17th April 2018 Mumbai Indians v Royal Challengers Bangalore Match 14, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Wednesday 18th April 2018 Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders Match 15, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Thursday 19th April 2018 Kings XI Punjab v Sunrisers Hyderabad Match 16, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore Friday 20th April 2018 Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals Match 17, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Saturday 21st April 2018 Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab Match 18, 16:00 IST (10:30 GMT), Eden Gardens, Kolkata Delhi Daredevils v Royal Challengers Bangalore Match 19, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi Sunday 22nd April 2018 Sunrisers Hyderabad v Chennai Super Kings Match 20, 16:00 IST (10:30 GMT), Rajiv Gandhi Intl. Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians Match 21, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Monday 23rd April 2018 Kings XI Punjab v Delhi Daredevils Match 22, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore Tuesday 24th April 2018 Mumbai Indians v Sunrisers Hyderabad Match 23, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Wednesday 25th April 2018 Royal Challengers Bangalore v Chennai Super Kings Match 24, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru Thursday 26th April 2018 Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kings XI Punjab Match 25, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Rajiv Gandhi Intl. Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad Friday 27th April 2018 Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders Match 26, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi Saturday 28th April 2018 Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians Match 27, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Sunday 29th April 2018 Rajasthan Royals v Sunrisers Hyderabad Match 28, 16:00 IST (10:30 GMT), Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders Match 29, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru Monday 30th April 2018 Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils Match 30, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Tuesday 1st May 2018 Royal Challengers Bangalore v Mumbai Indians Match 31, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru Wednesday 2nd May 2018 Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals Match 32, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi Thursday 3rd May 2018 Kolkata Knight Riders v Chennai Super Kings Match 33, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Eden Gardens, Kolkata Friday 4th May 2018 Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians Match 34, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali Saturday 5th May 2018 Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore Match 35, 16:00 IST (10:30 GMT), M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Sunrisers Hyderabad v Delhi Daredevils Match 36, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Rajiv Gandhi Intl. Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad Sunday 6th May 2018 Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders Match 37, 16:00 IST (10:30 GMT), Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals Match 38, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali Monday 7th May 2018 Sunrisers Hyderabad v Royal Challengers Bangalore Match 39, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Rajiv Gandhi Intl. Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad Tuesday 8th May 2018 Rajasthan Royals v Kings XI Punjab Match 40, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Wednesday 9th May 2018 Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians Match 41, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Eden Gardens, Kolkata Thursday 10th May 2018 Delhi Daredevils v Sunrisers Hyderabad Match 42, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi Friday 11th May 2018 Rajasthan Royals v Chennai Super Kings Match 43, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Saturday 12th May 2018 Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders Match 44, 16:00 IST (10:30 GMT), IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali Royal Challengers Bangalore v Delhi Daredevils Match 45, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru Sunday 13th May 2018 Chennai Super Kings v Sunrisers Hyderabad Match 46, 16:00 IST (10:30 GMT), M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals Match 47, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Monday 14th May 2018 Kings XI Punjab v Royal Challengers Bangalore Match 48, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali Tuesday 15th May 2018 Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals Match 49, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Eden Gardens, Kolkata Wednesday 16th May 2018 Mumbai Indians v Kings XI Punjab Match 50, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Thursday 17th May 2018 Royal Challengers Bangalore v Sunrisers Hyderabad Match 51, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru Friday 18th May 2018 Delhi Daredevils v Chennai Super Kings Match 52, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi Saturday 19th May 2018 Rajasthan Royals v Royal Challengers Bangalore Match 53, 16:00 IST (10:30 GMT), Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kolkata Knight Riders Match 54, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Rajiv Gandhi Intl. Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad Sunday 20th May 2018 Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians Match 55, 16:00 IST (10:30 GMT), Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab Match 56, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Tuesday 22nd May 2018 TBC v TBC Qualifier 1, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Wednesday 23rd May 2018 TBC v TBC Eliminator, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), TBC, TBC Friday 25th May 2018 TBC v TBC Qualifier 2, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), TBC, TBC Sunday 27th May 2018 TBC v TBC Final, 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT), Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai