April 8: 8pm – Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai.

April 9: 4pm – Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan Royals in Hyderabad. 8pm – Kochi Tuskers Kerala vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in Kochi.

April 10: 4pm – Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians in Delhi. 8pm – Pune Warriors vs Kings XI Punjab in Navi Mumbai.

April 11: 8pm – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers in Kolkata.

April 12: 4pm – Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils in Jaipur. 8pm – Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians in Bangalore.

April 13: 4pm – Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings in Mohali. 8pm – Pune Warriors vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala in Navi Mumbai.

April 14: 8pm – Deccan Chargers vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in Hyderabad.

April 15: 4pm – Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Jaipur. 8pm – Mumbai Indians vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala in Mumbai.

April 16: 4pm – Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai. 8pm – Deccan Chargers vs Kings XI Punjab in Hyderabad.

April 17: 4pm – Pune Warriors vs Delhi Daredevils in Navi Mumbai. 8pm – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals in Kolkata.

April 18: 8pm – Kochi Tuskers Kerala vs Chennai Super Kings in Kochi.

April 19: 4pm – Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan Chargers in Delhi. 8pm – Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Rajasthan Royals in Bangalore.

April 20: 4pm – Mumbai Indians vs Pune Warriors in Mumbai. 8pm – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala in Kolkata.

April 21: 8pm – Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals in Mohali.

April 22: 4pm – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in Kolkata. 8pm – Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai.

April 23: 8pm – Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab in Delhi.

April 24: 4pm – Deccan Chargers vs Mumbai Indians in Hyderabad. 8pm – Rajasthan Royals vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala in Jaipur.

April 25: 8pm – Chennai Super Kings vs Pune Warriors in Chennai.

April 26: 8pm – Delhi Daredevils vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in Delhi.

April 27: 4pm – Pune Warriors vs Chennai Super Kings in Navi Mumbai. 8pm – Kochi Tuskers Kerala vs Deccan Chargers in Kochi.

April 28: 8pm – Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Delhi.

April 29: 4pm – Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians in Jaipur. 8pm – Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Pune Warriors in Bangalore.

April 30: 4pm – Kochi Tuskers Kerala vs Delhi Daredevils in Kochi. 8pm – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab in Kolkata.

May 1: 4pm – Rajasthan Royals vs Pune Warriors in Jaipur. 8pm – Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers in Chennai.

May 2: 4pm – Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab in Mumbai. 8pm – Delhi Daredevils vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala in Delhi.

May 3: 8pm – Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Hyderabad.

May 4: 4pm – Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals in Chennai. 8pm – Pune Warriors vs Mumbai Indians in Navi Mumbai.

May 5: 4pm – Kochi Tuskers Kerala vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Kochi. 8pm – Deccan Chargers vs Delhi Daredevils in Hyderabad.

May 6: 8pm – Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab in Bangalore.

May 7: 4pm – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings in Kolkata. 8pm – Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils in Mumbai.

May 8: 4pm – Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala in Bangalore. 8pm – Kings XI Punjab vs Pune Warriors in Mohali.

May 9: 8pm – Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings in Jaipur.

May 10: 4pm – Deccan Chargers vs Pune Warriors in Hyderabad. 8pm – Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians in Mohali.

May 11: 8pm – Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in Jaipur.

May 12: 8pm – Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Daredevils in Chennai.

May 13: 8pm – Kochi Tuskers Kerala vs Kings XI Punjab in Indore.

May 14: 4pm – Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Bangalore. 8pm – Mumbai Indians vs Deccan Chargers in Mumbai.

May 15: 4pm – Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils in Dharamsala. 8pm – Kochi Tuskers Kerala vs Rajasthan Royals in Indore.

May 16: 8pm – Pune Warriors vs Deccan Chargers in Navi Mumbai.

May 17: 8pm – Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in Dharamsala.

May 18: 8pm – Chennai Super Kings vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala in Chennai.

May 19: 8pm – Pune Warriors vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Navi Mumbai.

May 20: 8pm – Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals in Mumbai.

May 21: 4pm – Kings XI Punjab vs Deccan Chargers in Dharamsala. 8pm – Delhi Daredevils vs Pune Warriors in Delhi.

May 22: 4pm – Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Chennai Super Kings in Bangalore. 8pm – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians in Kolkata.

May 24: 8pm – Qualifier 1: First Placed Team vs Second Placed Team in Mumbai.

May 25: 8pm – Eliminator: Third Placed Team vs Fourth Placed Team in Mumbai.

May 27: 8pm – Qualifier 2: Winner of Eliminator vs Loser of Qualifier 1 in Chennai.

May 28: 8pm – Final: Winner of Qualifier 1 vs Winner of Qualifier 2 in Chennai.

The IPL season 3 would start on March 12, 2010 with a grand opening ceremony followed by a clash between the winners of last edition of IPL Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knightriders at Navi Mumbai. The final of this 2010 edition of the Indian Premier League would take place on 25th of April at Navi Mumbai’s D Y Patil Stadium. There will be 60 matches in total and several new venues have also been added in this year’s IPL. Here is the complete schedule of IPL season 3.

1st match Fri Mar 12 – Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders
Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai

2nd match Sat Mar 13 – Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

3rd match Sat Mar 13 – Kings XI Punjab v Delhi Daredevils
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

4th match Sun Mar 14- Kolkata Knight Riders v Royal Challengers Bangalore
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

5th match Sun Mar 14- Chennai Super Kings v Deccan Chargers
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

6th match Mon Mar 15 – Rajasthan Royals v Delhi Daredevils
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

7th match Tue Mar 16- Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kings XI Punjab
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

8th match Tue Mar 16- Kolkata Knight Riders v Chennai Super Kings
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

9th match Wed Mar 17 – Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

10th match Thu Mar 18 – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Rajasthan Royals
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

11th match Fri Mar 19 – Delhi Daredevils v Chennai Super Kings
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

12th match Fri Mar 19 – Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab
Andhra Cricket Association-Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association Stadium, Visakhapatnam

13th match Sat Mar 20 – Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

14th match Sat Mar 20 – Mumbai Indians v Royal Challengers Bangalore
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

15th match Sun Mar 21 – Deccan Chargers v Delhi Daredevils
Andhra Cricket Association-Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association Stadium, Visakhapatnam

16th match Sun Mar 21 – Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

17th match Mon Mar 22 – Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

18th match Tue Mar 23- Royal Challengers Bangalore v Chennai Super Kings
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

19th match Wed Mar 24 – Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

20th match Thu Mar 25- Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

21st match Fri Mar 26- Rajasthan Royals v Deccan Chargers
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

22nd match Sat Mar 27- Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

23rd match Sat Mar 27- Royal Challengers Bangalore v Delhi Daredevils
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

24th match Sun Mar 28- Rajasthan Royals v Chennai Super Kings
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

25th match Sun Mar 28- Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians
Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad

26th match Mon Mar 29 – Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

27th match Tue Mar 30 – Mumbai Indians v Kings XI Punjab
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

28th match Wed Mar 31- Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

29th match Wed Mar 31- Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

30th match Thu Apr 1 – Kolkata Knight Riders v Deccan Chargers
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

31st match Fri Apr 2 – Kings XI Punjab v Royal Challengers Bangalore
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

32nd match Sat Apr 3 – Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

33rd match Sat Apr 3 – Mumbai Indians v Deccan Chargers
Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur

34th match Sun Apr 4 – Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

35th match Sun Apr 4 – Delhi Daredevils v Royal Challengers Bangalore
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

36th match Mon Apr 5- Deccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals
Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad

37th match Mon Apr 6- Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

38th match Mon Apr 7- Rajasthan Royals v Kings XI Punjab
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad / Jaipur (venue not confirmed)

39th match Mon Apr 7-Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

40th match Thu Apr 8- Royal Challengers Bangalore v Deccan Chargers
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

41st match Thu Apr 9 -Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

42nd match Thu Apr 10-Dccan Chargers v Chennai Super Kings
Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad

43rd match Sat Apr 10 – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

44th match Sat Apr 11- Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

45th match Sat Apr 11 – Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad / Jaipur (venue not confirmed)

46th match Sat Apr 12 – Deccan Chargers v Royal Challengers Bangalore
Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad

47th match Tue Apr 13 – Mumbai Indians v Delhi Daredevils
Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur

48th match Tue Apr 13 – Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

49th match Wed Apr 14- Rajasthan Royals v Royal Challengers Bangalore
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad / Jaipur (venue not confirmed)

50th match Wed Apr 15- Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

51st match Wed Apr 16- Kings XI Punjab v Deccan Chargers
Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharmasala

52nd match Wed Apr 17- Royal Challengers Bangalore v Mumbai Indians
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

53rd match -Wed Apr 17 Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

54th match Wed Apr 18- Kings XI Punjab v Chennai Super Kings
Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharmasala

55th match Wed Apr 18- Delhi Daredevils v Deccan Chargers
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

56th match Wed Apr 19- Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Semi-Final Wed Apr 21- TBC v TBC
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Semi-Final Wed Apr 22- TBC v TBC
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

3rd Place Play-off Wed Apr 24- TBC v TBC
Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai

Final Wed Apr 21- TBC v TBC
Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai

NOTE: The match timings for all matches of IPL 3 would be 8:00 PM IST on days when there are only one match and 4:00 PM IST and 8:00 PM IST respectively on days when there are two matches in a day. The only exception would be the second match of IPL 3 on 13th match which would start at 3:00 PM IST as it was re-scheduled by an hour on a request by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) as the timings clashed with the Hockey World Cup Final.

West Indies has a bilateral series with England starting from 6th May onwards including two tests and three ODIs. However, if reports are to believed then there was a dispute between the players and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) as this England tour conflicted with the IPL matches. And the main concern of the players were that they were not consulted before fixing this England series suddenly following the withdrawal of Sri Lanka whose players wanted to play in the IPL instead. And now few of the West Indies players have decided to play in the IPL T20 season 2 although they will not boycott the England series completely. West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo will miss both the tests of the England series and will play in the IPL T20 season 2 instead. He was ruled out of the test series as his ankle is still not good for tests. But he has decided to play in the IPL as he believes he is fit enough for T20 cricket. He said that everybody knows the importance of test cricket but his health is not fit for test cricket. Other West Indies players like Chris Gayle and Fidel Edwards will also be playing in IPL 2 but they are set to arrive in England before the first test. However, WICB has kept 17 players in the squad to England as a precautionary measure.

Dwayne Bravo plays for IPL team Mumbai Indians, Edwards plays for Deccan Chargers and Chris Gayle for Kolkata Knight Riders. Hope that from the next year, cricket boards around the world arrange the fixtures in such a way that it does not clash with the IPL.

All the tickets for the IPL T20 season 2 opener in Newlands, Cape Town has supposedly been sold out within two hours today. Most people were quite critical of how the South African people would react to the Indian Premier League after the venue had to be shifted to South Africa due to clash with general elections in India. But if the occupancy of the IPL opener is any hint for the rest of the tournament then it might turn out to be a huge success in SA too. The IPL opener on April 18 would include a grand opening ceremony and two matches back to back. In addition to that there will be the mix of Bollywood and Hollywood in the IPL season 2 opener. IPL has been aggressively promoted amongst the masses and most of the matches has also been organized on cities with huge Indian population. The ticket prices has also been kept quite affordable so that all the South African people can enjoy this extravaganza of cricket and entertainment without burning a hole in their pocket. And this hard work by BCCI and South African Cricket seems to have already shown the results. It was expected that ticket sales in SA might take a few weeks to catch up but the sell out of the tickets in the IPL opener has ended all the negative presumptions. And there has been booking of tickets not only from South Africa but from other countries like England, Middle East and South Africa. IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said that IPL T20 season 2 might help them in gaining a global fan base.

Although the full occupancy in the IPL opener cannot guarantee full occupancy for the rest of the matches but it is surely a definite trend that cannot be denied. Let us wish that the occupancy is full in most of the match and IPL T20 season 2 turns out to be a grand success. And whatever we say it seems Lalit Modi always has the laugh laugh.

Bollywood and Hollywood stars will attend the opening ceremony of the second season of IPL T20 if reports are to be believed. Hollywood actors Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman are likely to grace the opening ceremony on April 18 at Newlands alongside IPL franchise owners and Bollywood stars Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty. Last year’s runner-up Chennai Super Kings will play the opening match against Mumbai Indians while IPL season 1 winner Rajasthan Royals will take the challenge of Bangalore Royal Challengers in the second match subsequently on the same venue.

The match tickets for the opening for the opening matches will go on sale from April 3 and it has been kept modest and in terms with the 2007 ICC T20 Cricket World Cup. The tickets will start from Rand 50 for children, Rand 100 for a grass ticket and upto Rand 200 for a seat (1 South African Rand ~ 5.5 Indian National Rupees). According to Stadium Authorities, there is major interest amongst the public for the matches and so the ticket prices have been kept affordable.

To increase the maximum occupancy of stadiums the IPL schedule has been organized in such a way that the maximum amount of matches are played in Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg which are cities with the largest Indian population. Out of the 56 games to be played in IPL T20 season 2, 33 games has been staged in these three venues.

Let us wait for the next two weeks to see if the South African people likes the mix dose of cricket, Bollywood, Hollywood and cheerleaders. But going by the way the organizers are working on the event, it might become a success this year too.

IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has officially announced the schedule of the IPL season 2 in South Africa. As mentioned in my previous post, Wanderers Stadium will host the IPL final, a semi final and six other matches while the opening match is at Cape Town. The match timings have been kept at 4 PM and 8 PM IST as promised by Lalit Modi.

Here is the exact schedule:

April 18: Rajasthan Royals (RR) v Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) (4 pm) at Cape Town; Mumbai Indians (MI) v Chennai Super Kings (CSK) (8 pm) at Cape Town
April 19: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) v Deccan Chargers (DC) (4 pm) at Cape Town; Delhi Daredevils (DD) v Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) (8 pm) at Cape Town
April 20: RCB V CSK (4 pm) at Port Elizabeth
April 21: RR v MI (4 pm) at Durban; KKR v KXIP (8 pm) at Durban
April 22: DD v CSK (4 pm) at Durban; RCB v DC (8 pm) at Cape Town
April 23: KKR v RR (4 pm) at Port Elizabeth
April 24: KXIP v RCB (4 pm) at Johannesburg
April 25: KKR v CSK (4 pm) at Cape Town; DC v MI (8 pm) at Durban
April 26: RR v KXIP (4 pm) at Cape Town; RCB v DD (8 pm) Port Elizabeth
April 27: KKR v MI (4 pm) at Cape Town; CSK v DC (8 pm) at Durban
April 28: DD v RR (4 pm) at Pretoria
April 29: MI v KXIP (4 pm) at Durban; KKR v RCB (8 pm) at Durban
April 30: DD v DC (4 pm) at Pretoria; RR v CSK (8 pm) at Pretoria
May 1: RCB v KXIP (4 pm) at East London; MI v KKR (8 pm) at Durban
May 2: RR v DC (4 pm) at Johannesburg; CSK v DD (8 pm) at Port Elizabeth
May 3: MI v RCB (4 pm) at Durban; KXIP v KKR (8 pm) at East London
May 4: DC v CSK (4 pm) at Port Elizabeth
May 5: DD v KKR (4 pm) at Durban; KXIP v RR (8 pm) at Durban
May 6: MI v DC (4 pm) at Pretoria
May 7: KXIP v CSK (4 pm) at Pretoria; RCB v RR (8 pm) at Pretoria
May 8: DD v MI (4 pm) at East London
May 9: DC v KXIP (4 pm) at Bloemfontein; CSK v RR (8 pm) at Port Elizabeth
May 10: KKR v DD (4 pm) at East London; RCB v MI (8 pm) at Johannesburg
May 11: DC v RR (4 pm) at Bloemfontein
May 12: RCB v KKR (4 pm) at Pretoria; KXIP v MI (8 pm) at Pretoria
May 13: DC v DD (4 pm) at Durban
May 14: MI v RR (4 pm) at Durban; CSK v RCB (8 pm) at Durban
May 15: KXIP v DD (4 pm) at Kimberley
May 16: CSK v MI (4 pm) at Johannesburg; DC v KKR (8 pm) at Port Elizabeth
May 17: RR v DD (4 pm) at Kimberley; KXIP v DC (8 pm) at Johannesburg
May 18: CSK v KKR (4 pm) at Pretoria
May 19: DD v RCB (4 pm) at Johannesburg
May 20: CSK v KXIP (4 pm) at Durban; RR v KKR (8 pm) at Durban
May 21: DC v RCB (4 pm) at Pretoria; MI v DD (8 pm) at Pretoria
May 22: Semi Final 1 at Pretoria
May 23: Semi Final 2 at Johannesburg
May 24: Final at Johannesburg

After the shift of the Indian Premier League to South Africa, BCCI and Cricket South Africa is working closely to decide the new schedule. As per reports published in the Independent Online, Wanderers Stadium which is South Africa’s biggest venue will hold the IPL 2 final on May 24, one semi-final a day before and six other league matches. The 59 match competition will take start off on April 18 at Newlands in Cape Town if reports are to be believed. The official schedule for the matches has not yet been made public but BCCI and CSA is supposed to be in the final stages of finalizing the schedule and would release it hopefully very soon.