Mumbai: The Indian Premier League (IPL) of 2021 will kick-start on April 9 and its final is scheduled to be held on May 30, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) informed on Sunday.

The matches will be played in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, the BCCI said. The final is scheduled to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. All matches will be played behind closed doors, with the BCCI saying that a call on permitting cricket fans will be taken at a later stage of the tournament.

Each team is set to play at four venues during the league stage. Out of the 56 league matches, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru will host 10 matches each while Ahmedabad and Delhi will host 8 matches each. The board said that matches have been designed in such a way that each team will travel only three times during the league stage.

There will be a total of 11 double headers where six teams will play three afternoon matches and two teams will play two afternoon matches. The afternoon games are slated for a 3.30 p.m. IST start while the evening games will have a 7.30 p.m. start.

Mumbai Indians face Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first match of the season which will be played in Chennai.

(With inputs from IANS)