The defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will be locking horns with last season’s runner-ups Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the tournament opener of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, which is scheduled to be taking place on September 19 in Abu Dhabi, the BCCI announced while revealing the league-phase schedule on Sunday (September 6).

The second match will be played in Dubai on September 20 between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), followed by the opening clashes of Sunirsisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on September 21. Sharjah’s first match will be held on September 22, when Rajasthan Royals (RR) will be locking horns with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

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The first doubleheader will be played on October 3. There will be 10 doubleheaders with the first match scheduled to be starting at 3:30 PM IST and 2:00 PM UAE time. All the evening games will begin at 7:30 PM ISTand 6 PM UAE Time.

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Kolkata Knight Riders and MI will be playing 8 of their league matches in Abu Dhabi, while CSK and SRH will play 8 of their games in Dubai. On the other hand, KXIP, RCB, and DC will be maximum of 7 matches in Dubai. RR has got almost equal distribution across the venues with five being played in Abu Dhabi and 6 in Dubai. All teams will play only three matches each in Sharjah. In all, 24 matches will be held in Dubai, 20 in Abu Dhabi, and 12 in Sharjah.

Here is the complete schedule for league matches:

The league phase will run across 46 days, with the last league game is scheduled to be played between SRH and MI in Sharjah, on November 3. The dates and venues for IPL playoffs, the final, and the women’s T20 league are yet to be announced.