All You Need To Know About The Indian Premier League 2024 – Schedule, Teams, Where To Watch

The opening match will feature two of the biggest superstars of Indian cricket - MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli - going up against each other. That high-voltage opening game will be followed by a double-header weekend. On Saturday, Rishabh Pant will return to competitive cricket after a 14-month hiatus.

Having recovered from a serious car crash that required multiple surgeries on his knees and ankles, apart from extensive rehabilitation, Pant returns to captain Delhi Capitals as they open their campaign against Punjab Kings at a brand new stadium near Chandigarh.

In the second of our opening weekend double-headers on Saturday, KKR, owned by Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan, take on Sunrisers Hyderabad, who will be led by Australia’s WTC and 50-over World Cup-winning captain Pat Cummins. Sunrisers will be looking to bounce back from a last-placed finish in IPL 2023.

KKR will be led by Shreyas Iyer, who takes over the captaincy from Nitish Rana. Iyer missed the previous season due to a back injury that required surgery.

Sunday’s double-headers feature Rajasthan Royals against the KL Rahul-led Lucknow Supergiants in the first match in Jaipur. Later on Sunday evening, the IPL will feature a potential blockbuster when Mumbai Indians take on Gujarat Titans. The fascinating subplot to this game involves Hardik, Mumbai’s new captain, taking on his former team after he was acquired during the pre-season trade for an undisclosed sum.

As of now, the schedule has been announced only for the first two weeks of the tournament. The BCCI is awaiting a directive from the Indian government over the schedule of the federal elections, following which the fixtures for the remainder of the tournament will be finalized.

The opening match on March 22 will start at 8:00 PM IST, a deviation from the usual 7:30 PM start due to a glitzy opening ceremony. The afternoon game on the double-header days will begin at 3:30 PM, while the evening game will start at 7:30 PM.

In the first two weeks of the competition, the Capitals will play their home games in Visakhapatnam after their home ground, the Arun Jaitley Stadium, expressed its inability to host games due to a short turnaround from the WPL matches. Capitals, Titans and RCB will play five out of their 14 games during the first schedule, while KKR play just three games. All other teams have been slotted in to play four fixtures during this window.

Viewers can tune in to IPL 2024 on the Star Sports network in India. On digital, the tournament will be available on Jio Cinema. Viewers will have the option of listening to commentary in multiple languages. In addition to English and Hindi, viewers can listen to commentary in Kannada, Tamil, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Telugu and Bhojpuri.

In the MENA regions (Middle East and North America), the tournament will be available on Cricbuzz, which is part of Times Internet Limited, while UK and New Zealand viewers can catch it on Sky Sports. Willow TV has secured the rights to broadcast the games in the USA, while South African audiences can catch the games on SuperSport. 

StarHub has the rights to telecast the games in Singapore. Yupp TV has the internet and digital rights across Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Maldives. If you’re from the Caribbean, you can catch the action live on Flow Sports.

MS Dhoni will lead, possibly for one final season. The big miss for them, at least for the first half, will be Devon Conway, player of the match of the IPL 2023 final. Conway has had thumb surgery and is likely to be out for four weeks.

In his place, They could bring in young New Zealand star Rachin Ravindra to partner Ruturaj Gaikwad. Shardul Thakur returns to the franchise, while Ambati Rayudu’s retirement could pave the way for the inclusion of youngster Sander Rizvi, who was the costliest uncapped player at INR 8.4 crore.

Their biggest change was right at the top. Rohit Sharma, who led them to five titles, is no longer captain. That position has been taken by Hardik Pandya, who returns after two seasons with Gujarat Titans.

MI strengthened their bowling attack by signing Gerald Coetzee and the Sri Lankan duo of Nuwan Thushara and Dilshan Madushanka. Jasprit Bumrah’s return after missing the previous season because of a back injury makes their bowling attack the best of the competition.

Virat Kohli is set to return after missing the five-Test series against England, while Rajat Patidar is back after missing IPL 2023 due to a heel injury.

Dinesh Karthik will play his final IPL season. The team is short of a leg spinner after releasing Wanindu Hasaranga. They have strengthened their pace department by signing Alzarri Joseph and Lockie Ferguson.