IPL 2024 FAQs - New captains, record buys, Smart Replay System, and more

March 22 with defending champions Chennai Super Kings taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai. The BCCI has only released the schedule for the first 21 matches till April 7. The schedule for the rest of the tournament will be released later. The final of IPL 2024 is expected to be held on May 26. Here is the schedule.

The tournament like last year will have 70 league matches, with teams playing 14 matches each. The top four sides make it through to the playoffs, which will have a Qualifier 1, an Eliminator followed by Qualifier 2 and the final. The first game will start at 8.00pm IST due to the preceding opening ceremony. Otherwise, on days with only one game, play will commence at 7.30pm IST. On double-header days, matches will be played at 3.30pm IST and 7.30pm IST respectively.

The biggest change in captaincy this year is Hardik Pandya moving back to Mumbai Indians from Gujarat Titans replacing five-time IPL winning captain Rohit Sharma at the helm. With Hardik gone, Shubman Gill will lead Titans. Rishabh Pant, who resumes competitive cricket for the first time since the car accident in December 2002, will take back the Capitals captaincy reigns from David Warner who led last season. Sunrisers Hyderabad also have a new captain in Pat Cummins who replaces Aiden Markram. For KKR, Shreyas Iyer is back having missed IPL 2023 due to injury. He takes over the captaincy duties from Nitish Rana, who has been named vice-captain.

Very much so. Dhoni is back with CSK, and he sprung a surprise by handing over the captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad a day before the start of the tournament. Kohli, who had taken a break from the recently concluded five-match Test series against England is also back for RCB.

The home venues for most of the teams remain unchanged.

CSK - Chennai
RCB - Bengaluru
KKR - Kolkata
Mumbai - Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Titans - Ahmedabad
Sunrisers - Uppal, Hyderabad
Lucknow Super Giants - Lucknow

Punjab Kings have, however, moved to a new stadium. They will play a chunk of their home games in Mullanpur with the venue set to make its IPL debut. They will also play two home games in Dharamsala. Delhi Capitals will meanwhile play their first two home games in Visakhapatnam before moving back to the venue in Delhi for the rest of the season.

There were some record-shattering bids at the auctions. Sunrisers splurged INR 20.5 crore for Cummins as he became the most expensive buy ever at an IPL auction. That record was short-lived though with KKR minutes later pouching Mitchell Starc for INR 24.75 crore. Daryl Mitchell went to CSK for INR 14 crore, who also got Rachin Ravindra (INR 1.8 crore) and Sameer Rizvi (INR 8.4 crore). Punjab procured the services of Harshal Patel for INR 11.75 crore, while RCB paid INR 11.5 crore for Alzarri Joseph. Here's what happened at the auction.

This season will allow bowlers to deliver two bouncers in an over in a bid to create a more even contest between bat and ball. The Impact Player rule, which came into effect last year will remain in place. In addition, the IPL is set to introduce the Smart Replay System this season for quicker and more accurate reviews.

A host of English names. There is no Ben Stokes, Joe Root or Jofra Archer. England batter Jason Roy withdrew from the IPL ahead of the season and so did Harry Brook. Mark Wood also pulled out of his deal with LSG. There will be no Mohammed Shami also as he recovers from an ankle injury. Steven Smith and Josh Hazlewood went unsold in the auction. Here's a list of unavailable players this season.

CSK claimed their fifth IPL trophy beating Titans in a pulsating final that went into a third day because of rain and thunderstorms. With CSK needing 10 to win off the final two balls, Ravindra Jadeja hit a six and four to bring the house down in Ahmedabad and take his side to glory. Relive the final here.