New Delhi, Nov 22 (PTI) Next year’s Indian Premier League 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.

Archer did not feature in the IPL this year and his run in the 2023 edition was cut short by an elbow injury.

Netravalkar was one of the breakout stars of the T20 World Cup in the USA earlier this year with impressive performances that were crucial to his side advancing to the Super 8s.

The former India Under-19 player, who also turned up for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy, migrated to the USA to pursue computer engineering and is currently employed with Oracle.

His omission from the pruned auction list at the expense of another India-turned-US player Unmukt Chand had raised eyebrows as the latter was not a part of the American team in the T20 World Cup. PTI

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