Indian T20 League 2023 schedule released, Gujarat to face Chennai in opener

The Indian T20 League released its schedule on Friday, revealing that defending champions Gujarat will face off against Chennai in the season opener on March 31 at the Narendra Modi Stadium at 7:30 PM IST. All teams will play seven home and seven away games across 12 venues. Ahmedabad, Mohali, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Jaipur, Mumbai, Guwahati and Dharamsala have been decided as the 12 venues for the premier T20 League.

There are 70 league matches this time, including 18 double-header days in the schedule. The last league stage game is scheduled for May 21, with the final set to be played in Ahmedabad on May 28.

Indian T20 League 2023 Groups:

Group A

Mumbai, Rajasthan, Kolkata, Delhi and Lucknow.

Group B

Chennai, Punjab, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Gujarat.

A look at the first five matches of the Indian T20 League 2023 

Chennai vs Gujarat – March 31.
Punjab vs Kolkata – April 1.
Lucknow vs Delhi – April 1.
Hyderabad vs Rajasthan – April 2.
Bangalore vs Mumbai – April 2

Last season, Hardik Pandya‘s all-around display helped the Gujarat Franchise win the Indian T20 League in its debut season with a seven-wicket victory over the Rajasthan franchise in the final. Gujarat captain Pandya took 3 for 17, including the vital scalp of Jos Buttler for 39, to restrict Rajasthan to 130 for 9 and then hit 34 off 30 balls in an all-around captain’s performance.

It is only fitting that last year’s champions Gujarat meet four-time champions Chennai at one of the biggest cricket stadiums in the world in Ahmedabad for the season opener. MS Dhoni will be playing his last home game on May 16 at Chennai against Kolkata. Dhoni’s Chennai will play their second game vs Lucknow on April 3, which will also be their first home game. Chennai meets their long-time rivals Mumbai on April 8 at Wankhede stadium. The return fixture will be played on May 6 in Chennai.

Five-time champions Mumbai will play their first match vs Bangalore on April 2 at the M Chinnaswamy stadium. The other big clash will be between MS Dhoni’s Chennai and Virat Kohli’s Bangalore on April 17 in Bengaluru.