After a decade, Eden Gardens will host the IPL opener and the final. This year’s IPL begins on March 22 at the Eden with reigning champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) facing Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The final is on May 25.

The last time the Eden hosted both the opener and the final of the IPL in 2015. The first time it hosted both the opener and final was in 2013.

Like every edition, an opening ceremony will be taking place this year too and is likely to be held on March 22 itself before the Knights Riders-RCB game begins. Though nothing has been finalised yet about the opening ceremony function, the presence of a few Bollywood stars is a possibility, as has been the trend.

Alongside the opener, the Knights’ home games and the final, Qualifier 2 on May 23 will also be held at the Eden.

As for the Knight Riders, they will be travelling to Guwahati for their second match in IPL 2025 against Rajasthan Royals on March 26.

This edition will see a total of 74 matches with 12 double-headers. The first double-header of the season is on March 23, which features last year’s runners-up Sunrisers Hyderabad facing Rajasthan Royals in Hyderabad while Chennai Super Kings take on Mumbai Indians in Chennai later in the evening.

The ten teams have been divided into two groups. Group 1 has the Knights, RCB, the Royals, Super Kings and Punjab Kings. Group 2 features Sunrisers, Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Titans, Mumbai and Lucknow Super Giants.

Each team plays the other teams in their group and one team in the other group (as per seeding) twice, while they will play once against the rest of the four teams in the opposing group.

Besides the 10 home venues of the 10 teams, Guwahati (Royals), Visakhapatnam (Capitals) and Dharamsala (Punjab) will also be hosting games.

KKR are scheduled to begin their camp at the Eden from March 11.