The 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is kicking off this week, starting with the opening match on Saturday, March 22, where the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), will face off against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Before the first game of this 18th season of the lucrative league, all ten IPL captains are set to meet in Mumbai on March 20 for a crucial pre-season gathering.

According to Cricbuzz, this official meeting will be held at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters. The report also mentions that the managers from all ten franchises have been invited to join.

The meeting, scheduled to take place at the Cricket Centre, is expected to last about an hour. Cricbuzz notes that the franchises will be briefed on the new updates and changes for the 2025 season. Following this, there will be sponsor activities at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai.

Cricbuzz further reports that the entire event will span four hours and will conclude with a standard photoshoot featuring all ten IPL captains. Typically, this photoshoot happens in the city where the season opener is held, but this time, the BCCI has opted to host it at their headquarters. All ten franchises have already confirmed their captains, with Axar Patel being the last one confirmed for the Delhi Capitals.

The other nine captains for IPL 2025 include Pat Cummins (SunRisers Hyderabad), Ajinkya Rahane (KKR), Hardik Pandya (Mumbai Indians), Ruturaj Gaikwad (Chennai Super Kings), Rajat Patidar (RCB), Rishabh Pant (Lucknow Super Giants), Shreyas Iyer (Punjab Kings), Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals), and Shubman Gill (Gujarat Titans).

Everything you should know about IPL 2025

The 18th season of the IPL is set to kick off on March 22, with the grand finale scheduled for May 25. This season will feature 74 matches held at 13 different venues, including 12 days with double-header games.

Afternoon matches will start at 3:30 PM IST, while evening games will begin at 7:30 PM IST. The first double-header day is on March 23, where SRH will take on RR in an afternoon match in Hyderabad. Later that evening, fans can look forward to an exciting showdown between the two five-time IPL champions, CSK and MI, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

DC and LSG will kick off their seasons against each other in Visakhapatnam on March 24. The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the largest cricket stadium in the world, will host its first match of the season on March 25, featuring GT against PBKS.

After the league stage wraps up, the playoffs will take place in Hyderabad and Kolkata. Hyderabad will host Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator on May 20 and 21, respectively. Then, the action moves to Kolkata for Qualifier 2 on May 23. The thrilling IPL 2025 final will take place on May 25.

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