There was good news for fans of the Indian cricket team as wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant played his first full match since his car accident in 2022. Pant has been on his recovery journey and on Tuesday he played in a warm-up match at Alur near Bengaluru since his near-fatal accident. It was a huge improvement for the cricketer who is expected to lead Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. However, according to a report by Cricbuzz, Pant will play as a specialist batsman and will not keep wickets as the top batsman. full rehabilitation may not be completed in time.
Meanwhile, the much-awaited Indian Premier League will begin on March 22 and will take place entirely in the country despite the coinciding general elections, league president Arun Dhumal told PTI.
The elections are expected to take place in April and May and that is the main reason why the schedule for the 17th edition of the IPL has not been revealed yet.
Speaking to PTI, Dhumal said to begin with, only the schedule of the first 15 days will be announced and the roster for the remaining matches will be decided after the announcement of the general election dates.
The dates of the Lok Sabha elections are expected to be announced early next month.
“We are looking at starting the tournament on March 22. We are working closely with the government authorities and will release the original schedule first. The entire tournament will be held in India,” Dhumal said.
Only in 2009 was the IPL held entirely abroad (South Africa), while the 2014 edition was partially held in the UAE due to the general elections.
However, in 2019, the tournament was held in India despite the elections.
With the T20 World Cup starting within days of the conclusion of the big-money competition, the final is likely to take place on May 26.
India will play their first World Cup match against Ireland in New York on June 5, while the ICC showpiece will begin on June 1 with the US-Canada clash.
As usual, the IPL opener will be played between last year's finalists, the winners Chennai Super Kings in this case and the runners-up Gujarat Titans.
The player auction for the 2024 season was held in December last year and Australian pacer Mitchell Starc became the most expensive player in the history of the league after being bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 24.75 crore.
(With PTI inputs)
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