Next year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held from March 14 to May 25, the BCCI has told the IPL franchises while also setting aside similar widows for the event’s 2026 and 2027 editions in an uncharacteristically elaborate plan.

The BCCI has also decided to include injury-prone England pacer Jofra Archer, Indian-born American pacer Saurabh Netravalkar and uncapped Mumbai-wicketkeeper-batter Hardik Tamore in the two-day mega players’ auction to be held in Jeddah from Sunday.

In its communication to the franchises, the Board has stated that the dates for the next three seasons are being shared at once to “assist the franchises in planning for the players’ auction.” The 2026 edition of the tournament will start on March 15 and the grand finale has been scheduled for May 31.

The 2027 edition will once again start on March 14 with the final on May 30. All three finals will be held on Sundays.

The BCCI had plans to increase the number of matches in the IPL to ensure that it runs for 10 and half weeks and looking at the windows set aside, it looks imminent that the league’s game count will increase.

The IPL 2025 auction is scheduled for November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, marking only the second time the auction will be held outside India. The previous auction, in 2024, was held in Dubai.

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A total of 574 players have been included in the final pool for the auction. This includes 48 capped Indian players and 193 capped overseas players.

However, with the 10 franchises retaining a combined total of 46 players, only 204 slots remain to be filled, as each team can have a maximum of 25 players in its squad. Additionally, each squad is allowed a maximum of eight overseas players, leaving just 70 overseas spots available.

(With inputs from PTI)