Indian Premier League to Start on April 8, Rajasthan Royals to Play Home Matches in Ahmedabad

The 2015 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be played April 8-May 24, its governing council announced Tuesday.

"The 2015 season of the IPL will commence Wednesday, April 8 and conclude Sunday, May 24," Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Sanjay Patel said in a release.

The Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai is likely to host a few home games for Rajasthan Royals, even as the franchise will play most of their home matches in Ahmedabad, like last season. Royals had no option of hosting home matches in Jaipur as the Rajasthan Cricket Association is still suspended by the BCCI.

For the league's next edition, Mumbai Indians have acquired Unmukt Chand from Rajasthan Royals and R. Vinay Kumar from Kolkata Knight Riders, respectively. Mumbai also have released Michael Hussey and Praveen Kumar.

Along with the 2015 edition, the governing council also announced the dates for the next two seasons, 2016 and 2017 respectively. While the 2016 edition will be played April 8-May 29, the 2017 edition is slated for April 5-May 21.

Novi Digital Entertainment Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Star India Private Limited, has secured certain media rights relating to the IPL for a cumulative Rs 302.2 crore over a three-season period, the cricket Board announced.

Patel said these media rights had been bid for and won for the 2015,'16 and '17 seasons for a cumulative fee "which is substantially higher than the fee of the previous rights period," after the Board's Marketing Committee meeting on Tuesday.

Pleased with the outcome he said that the cumulative reserve price had been set for Rs 120 crore.

Bids from three entities were received - Times Internet Limited, Multi Screen Media Private Limited and Novi Digital Entertainment Private Limited.

The Marketing Committee, after following the due tender process, awarded these media rights (internet and mobile all over the world barring USA) to the subsidiary of Star, according to Patel.

It was learnt that the other two bids were for Rs 285 crore (MSM) and Rs 191.8 crore (Times).

It was also known that the digital rights for USA would be decided in the next six weeks.

"Our partnership with Novi Digital Entertainment Pvt. Ltd augurs well for the Pepsi IPL, as well as the millions of fans who follow the tournament and we are delighted to commence an association with the organisation whose bid was found to be the most deserving," said Patel.

Patel also said that for the first time the Board had found a sponsor for the "Strategic Time Out" taken during each T20 innings of the tournament for a cumulative amount of Rs 31.5 crore for three seasons.

Upbeat about these developments, Patel said that contrary to what has been written about in the media the winning bids "reflected the interest of the fans in IPL."