New Delhi: The new season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to get underway from March 21. IPL chairman Arun Dhumal confirmed the start date of the tournament on Monday, January 27. Dhumal also confirmed that there will be no changes in the existing rules of the tournament, confirming that the Impact Player rule is set to be in place next season.
There was a lot of deliberation over the Impact Player rule when BCCI officials met with the IPL franchise owners ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction last year to discuss the rules and regulations for the auction and the season ahead. Some franchise owners were not in favour of continuing with the rule as they felt it also hurt the growth of all-rounders in Indian cricket.
However, the rule will not be scrapped in IPL 2025. The Impact Player rule allows a team to use an extra player (batter or a bowler) as an impact substitute to replace any player in their playing XI during their batting or bowling innings depending on the situation. The rule allows the teams to have an extra specialist batter while batting and replace him later with a specialist bowler during their bowling innings.
“See, the IPL season will start in March. The time is set for March 21. And the schedule will be released in a few days,” Dhumal was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.
“No, there is no significant change in the rules. IPL is the most important cricket league in the world, where the players of the world come and play. And this tournament is organized with a very competitive spirit. And definitely, this time it will be even better,” he added.
All ten teams strengthened their squads in the IPL 2025 mega auction last year. A total of 182 players were sold at the auction with the franchises spending a whopping Rs 639.15 crore in the two-day event which took place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Rishabh Pant turned out to be the most expensive pick at the auction after being bought by Lucknow Super Giants for a record sum of Rs 27 crore.
Franchises begin camp ahead of IPL 2025
Some of the IPL franchises have already begun their training camps ahead of the start of the new season as there are less than two months left for the tournament to begin. The legendary MS Dhoni was also recently spotted practising in the nets in Ranchi as he began his preparations for the new season. Dhoni was retained as an uncapped player by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for Rs 4 crore but will remain a vital cog in the team as they look to clinch a record sixth title.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 is set to kick off on March 21 this year and there will no changes in the exisiting rules of the tournament. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
