The much awaited cricket extravaganza, the 5th edition of IPL 2012, will begin with an opening ceremony at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on April 3.

The opening ceremony will see Bollywood and Hollywood celebrities coming together under one roof to entertain their fans. It will also see the veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan hosting the program.

Meanwhile, there are reports about Hollywood singer and artiste Katy Perry participating in the grand inaugural function.

The first match will be played between defending champions Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians at the former's home ground. This time IPL has fallen back to its initial pattern where the teams will be playing away from and at home.

IPL Schedule

The IPL 5 matches will be played for about two months starting from April 4 to May 27. This time, nine teams will play 72 matches in 12 venues.

Meanwhile, the playoff level of IPL 2012 edition will begin from May 22 and reach the finals on May 27 but not before playing three frenzy matches.

However, this time BCCI has done away with the Kochi Tuskers Kerala franchise as it breached its term of agreement.