Shreyas Iyer face MS Dhoni on march 26 in IPL 2022

The opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 is less than one month away and every cricket fan is eager to find out which will be the first clash on March 26. Shreyas Iyer face MS Dhoni on march 26 in IPL 2022. The first game of the 15th edition of the IPL is set to be a repeat of IPL 2022 final between MS Dhoni Chennai Super Kings and Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders.

MS Dhoni Chennai Super Kings came out on top last year to win the IPL title for the fourth time. The governing council announced the two groups for the IPL 2022 on Friday but the full schedule of the tournament, which will culminate on May 29, is yet to be revealed. All teams will play 4 matches each at Wankhede Stadium and DY Patil Stadium while 3 matches each at Brabourne Stadium (CCI) and MCA International Stadium, Pune.

The 10 teams will play a total of 14 league matches (7 home matches and 7 away matches) totalling to 70 league matches, followed by the 4 playoff matches. Each team will play 5 teams twice and the remaining 4 teams only once (2 only home and 2 only away. KKR and CSK will play the tournament opener on March 26. The source also confirmed that about 25 per cent crowd will be allowed for the initial matches of the IPL 2022.

“25 per cent crowd will be allowed for the initial matches and the capacity can be increased after the Maharashtra government gives its go ahead,” the source added. KKR and CSK had last played in the IPL 2021 final which the MS Dhoni-led side won. A total of 70 league matches will be played across four international standard venues in Mumbai and Pune. The venue for the playoff matches will be decided later.

Mumbai, Wankhede Stadium will host 20 matches while 15 matches will be played at Brabourne Stadium (CCI). DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai will host 20 matches while Pune’s MCA International Stadium will conduct 15 matches. Mumbai Cricket Association’s ground in Bandra-Kurla Complex and Dadoji Kondadev Stadium in Thane have been identified as training facilities for the teams.

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“The 10 teams will play a total of 14 league matches (7 home matches and 7 away matches) totalling to 70 league matches, followed by the 4 playoff matches. Each team will play 5 teams twice and the remaining 4 teams only once (2 only home and 2 only away).  “To decide on the above, teams have been assigned in two virtual groups based on the number of IPL Championships won followed by the number of Final matches played by the respective teams,” the BCCI said in a statement.