Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 will kick off at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday, April 7 with what promises to be a high-octane clash between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

The eight-team tournament will be played across nine venues over 51 days -- between April 7 and May 27. While all franchises will play their home leg at their respective home grounds, Kings XI Punjab will have two home venues in the 11th season. 

IPL Squads - CSK | RCB | SRH | KXIP | KKR | MI | DD | RR

The Punjab-based franchise will play three of their fixtures at Holkar Stadium in Indore before moving to IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali for their last four in the league stage.

While the Qualifier 1 and the final will be played at the Wankhede, the venus for Qualifier 2 and Elmintor is yet to be decided.

The much-anticipated clash between CSK and Rajasthan Royals, who are returning to the 11th edition after completion of their two-year-suspension over corruption charges, will take place on April 20 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

No change in timings

It was earlier reported that the IPL Governing Council (GC) had decided to accept proposal from new broadcasters Star India for change in timings of the matches. It was announced that the afternoon matches would be moved from 4pm to 5:30pm and the evening matches will be preponed by an hour to 7pm.

However, after some opposition from team owners, it seems the GC has taken a U-turn on its decision and retained the original timings, which has been followed ever since the inception of the cash-rich league in 2008.

Rohit Sharma Mumbai Indians Suresh Raina CSK
File photo: Mumbai Indians' Rohit Sharma and Chennai Super Kings' Suresh Rain pose with IPL trophy in 2015.IANS

Venues

  1. CSK - MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
  2. RCB - M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
  3. SRH - Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
  4. MI - Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
  5. KKR - Eden Gardens, Kolkata
  6. DD - Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
  7. KXIP - Holkar Stadium, Indore; IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali
  8. RR - Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Match Date Time Venue
MI vs CSK Saturday, April 7 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
DD vs KXIP Sunday, April 8 4pm IST, 10:30am GMT Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
KKR vs RCB Sunday, April 8 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Eden Gardens, Kolkata
SRH vs RR Monday, April 9 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Rajiv Gandhi, International Stadium, Hyderabad
CSK vs KKR Tuesday, April 10 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
RR vs DD Wednesday, April 11 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
SRH vs MI Thursday, April 12 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
RCB vs KXIP Friday, April 13 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
MI vs DD Saturday, April 14 4pm IST, 10:30am GMT Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
KKR vs SRH Saturday, April 14 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Eden Gardens, Kolkata
RCB vs RR Sunday, April 15 4pm IST, 10:30am GMT M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
KXIP vs CSK Sunday, April 15 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Holkar Stadium, Indore
KKR vs DD Monday, April 16 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Eden Gardens, Kolkata
MI vs RCB Tuesday, April 17 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
RR vs KKR Wednesday, April 18 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
KXIP vs SRH Thursday, April 19 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Holkar Stadium, Indore
CSK vs RR Friday, April 20 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
KKR vs KXIP Saturday, April 21 4pm IST, 10:30am GMT Eden Gardens, Kolkata
DD vs RCB Saturday, April 21 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
SRH vs CSK Sunday, April 22 4pm IST, 10:30am GMT Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
RR vs MI Sunday, April 22 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Rajasthan
KXIP vs DD Monday, April 23 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Holkar Stadium, Indore
MI vs SRH Tuesday, April 24 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
RCB vs CSK Wednesday, April 25 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
SRH vs KXIP Thursday, April 26 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
DD vs KKR Friday, April 27 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
CSK vs MI Saturday, April 28 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
RR vs SRH Sunday, April 29 4pm IST, 10:30am GMT Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
RCB vs KKR Sunday, April 29 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
CSK vs DD Monday, April 30 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
RCB vs MI Tuesday, May 1 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT M Chinnaswamy Stadium
DD vs RR Wednesday, May 2 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
KKR vs CSK Thursday, May 3 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Eden Gardens, Kolkata
KXIP vs MI Friday, May 4 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali
CSK vs RCB Saturday, May 5 4pm IST, 10:30am GMT MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
SRH vs DD Saturday, May 5 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Rajiv Gandhi international Stadium, Hyderabad
MI vs KKR Sunday, May 6 4pm IST, 10:30am GMT Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
KXIP vs RR Sunday, May 6 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali
SRH vs RCB Monday, May 7 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Hyderabad
RR vs KXIP Tuesday, May 8 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
KKR vs MI Wednesday, May 9 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Eden Gardens, Kolkata
DD vs SRH Thursday, May 10 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
RR vs CSK Friday, May 11 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
KXIP vs KKR Saturday, May 12 4pm IST, 10:30am GMT IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali
RCB vs DD Saturday, May 12 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
CSK vs SRH Sunday, May 13 4pm IST, 10:30am GMT MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
MI vs RR Sunday, May 13 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
KXIP vs RCB Monday, May 14 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali
KKR vs RR Tuesday, May 15 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Eden Gardens, Kolkata
MI vs KXIP Wednesday, May 16 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
RCB vs SRH Thursday, May 17 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
DD vs CSK Friday, May 18 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
RR vs RCB Saturday, May 19 4:30pm IST, 10:30am GMT Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
SRH vs KKR Saturday, May 19 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Hyderabad
DD vs MI Sunday, May 20 4pm IST, 10:30am GMT Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
CSK vs KXIP Sunday, May 20 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Qualifier 1 Tuesday, May 22 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Eliminator 1 Wednesday, May 23 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT TBC
Qualifier 2 Friday, May 25 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT TBC
Final Sunday, May 27 8pm IST, 2:30pm GMT Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai