Cricket lovers all over the world wait eagerly for months to catch the biggest festival of cricket, the Indian Premiere League. IPL schedule 2012 has been finalized, thus bringing a smile to the faces of all the fans. IPL has brought a revolution in the modern day cricket by bringing players from all the countries under one single team. The inauguration match will be held on April 4, 2012 between defending champions Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. The IPL 2012 is scheduled to start on April 4, 2012 and the final will be held on May 27, 2012. The amazing extravaganza of T20 will be here to fascinate the cricket lovers for 54 days. The finest players have only 2 months to prepare for the final battle.
The Indian Premier League 5 is to be held post India’s Australia tour as well as after S. Africa’s New Zealand trip. Besides, there are many international tournaments to take place at almost the same time in 2012 which implies the absence of a good number of international players from the tournament. However, the Governing Council has declared that IPL5 won’t have any Pakistani players.
The Indian Premier League 5, 2012 would be having 74 matches throughout 54 days.
The BCCI has also announced the number of teams to take part in IPL 5. Much like in IPL 4, the 2012 tournament would have the teams split into two groups. The grpups have been split into Group A and B. Group A is expected to have Deccan Chargers, Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils, Pune Warriors and Mumbai Indians. Group B is supposed to comprise of Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders. It implies the 5th edition of Indian Premier League will have 9 teams instead of 10 as Kochi Tuskers has been left out of the tournament on non-payment issues.
The exclusion of Kochi has given birth to talks regarding getting an IPL team for Ahmedabad.
Two of the IPL 5 teams would have a change in their captaincy. Rahul Dravid would be replacing Shane Warne as the Captain of Rajasthan Royals and Sourav Ganguly has been declared as the coach-cum-Captain for Pune Warriors replacing the earlier Pune Captain Yuvraj Singh. Ganguly’s news is a great relief for his Bengali fans.
However, BCCI has remarked that if Governing Council here decides to step ahead with 9 teams then the 2012 tournament would be reverting to its former pattern of a blend of home plus away matches.
In addition, the Governing Council of DLF Indian Premier League has been discussing ways for improving the present transfer window in trading the players that would be taking place for a period of 30 days from December 2011- January 2012. Franchises are requested to bring ideas of the new improvisation policies on trading with the players.
However, Rajiv Shukla has stated the upcoming IPL 5 bidding would be followed keeping in mind the interest of the players, including the existing players of Kochi Tuskers.
The IPL schedule has been prepared keeping in mind the season and the time. As there is no World Cup or any big cricket tournament, IPL 2012 is going to be the most happening cricket event. There will be 74 matches which will be totally action packed and thrilling. IPL 4 witnessed a lot of drama regarding the selection of ex Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly. This year Saurav Ganguly is set to make a comeback. The schedule of IPL is just after the Australia tour by India. The Semi Final and Final matches timing are subject to change once the teams qualify finally. The first match will be held at the Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The finals will also take place in Chennai.
There will be a new twist in the tournament as Kochi Tuskers will not be a part of the IPL 2012. The players will be auctioned and they will enter new teams. The stadium of Pune is on the verge of competition. Hence, the city of Pune can enjoy all the home games this time. Vizag, Cuttack and Dharmsala are to host couple of games. You can download the schedule of IPL 2012 from the official website of Indian Premiere League. All the details including the match fixture to games and venue is present on the internet. After winning the title of champion for two times, Chennai Super Kings will try their best to complete the triplet. So, keep your fingers crossed and for April 4, 2012 for the countdown to begin.