IPL 2024's early start to push Ranji Trophy and local matches out of franchise venues from February onwards - Reports

Although nothing has been set in stone as of yet, the general elections in the April-May window will dictate an early start for the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL). It will also ensure that the players have a little bit of buffer time to prepare for the 2024 T20 World Cup with their respective national teams.

As a result, the 10 venues in line to host the 2024 IPL will not be able to host any matches from February onwards. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has issued a mandate, asking for the venues to be ready for the franchises' use from the first week of March.

The 2024 Ranji Trophy season is scheduled to take place from January 4 to March 14, meaning that the state teams will not be able to play in their home grounds for long, and will have to seek alternate venues for their matches.

“Usually, once the domestic season is over, the centres concerned get around three weeks or so to freshen up and be prepared for the IPL.This time, because of the parliamentary elections, the IPL is set to begin a little bit earlier," an official of one of the state associations told The Telegraph on Monday.

“So, the BCCI, very recently, has instructed all the IPL centres to not host any Ranji, club or any other local matches from February onwards.The ground has to be kept ready so that the franchises can begin with their preparations from the first week of March itself,” the official added.

According to a report by ESPNcricinfo, the 2024 season is set for a window from March 22 to May end. It is to be noted that the 2024 T20 World Cup is scheduled to begin from June 3 onwards.

The tournament's schedule is expected to be finalized and announced once the Election Commission announces the dates for the General Elections.

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IPL reverted to the home-and-away format in the 2023 season

The T20 competition was either played abroad or across a very limited set of venues for three editions from 2020 to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The IPL was fully held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2020 and was split between India and the Middle East in 2021 across two separate windows.

The tournament was fully hosted in India for the first time since 2019 during the 2022 season but was confined to only one state. The IPL phased out in the playoffs stages, and with normalcy returning, it did not take long for the home-and-away format to return.

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