IPL releases dates for next 3 seasons in unusual move

The next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will kickstart on March 14 next year, with the title clash set for May 25, reported ESPNCricinfo on Friday.

In an unusual move that has never been done before, the dates for the next three seasons have been released. The 2026 season will be played from March 15 to May 31, while the 2027 season will be played between March 14 and May 30.

In an e-mail to the franchise on Thursday, which was accessed by ESPNCricinfo, the IPL termed these tournament dates as 'windows', but they are likely to end up being the final dates as well. The 2025 season will feature 74 matches, just like it has been since the past three editions.

The number of matches is 10 less than the 84 listed by IPL in 2022 when media rights were sold for the 2023-27 cycle. In the tender document for the new rights cycle, IPL had listed a varying number of matches for each season, with 74 games for 2023 and 2024, 84 for 2025 and 2026, and 94 games maximum in 2027.

In a major boost to teams, overseas players of major Test-playing nations have been given a nod from their boards to feature in next three seasons of the IPL, except for Pakistan, whose players have not featured in the IPL since the inaugural season back in 2008 due to political tensions between both nations.

Here is the country-wise availability of overseas players for the next three IPL seasons, according to the e-mail:

Australia: Cricket Australia (CA) has given clearance for all its major international and domestic stars to appear at IPL from next year. In 2026, Australia will be playing a three-match ODI series against Pakistan "concluding no later than March 18". Players playing that series and the ones resting after the T20 World Cup scheduled for February-March 2026 will be joining the IPL after the Pakistan tour. In 2027, Australian players participating in a one-off match against England to celebrate 150 years of Tests in March will join the IPL after the match.

England: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has submitted a list of 18 centrally contracted stars which will be available for the next three seasons, with it missing the name of star all-rounder Ben Stokes, who did not register for the mega auction this year.

The player list included: Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Olly Stone and Reece Topley.

ECB also said that some of these players will be "out of contract" at some point during the 2025-27 period but while they are contracted, they will be available to play in the IPL. Players without central contracts will be fully available for the next three seasons.

• How Dubai fans defied intense heat for India-Pakistan Women's World Cup match