The 16th edition of IPL will begin today, with new rules and formats to witness the thrill of cricket.

Ahmedabad, 31 March 2023, Friday

The 16th edition of the country's most popular T20 cricket league IPL will begin today. The first match of the IPL league will be played between defending champions Gujarat Titans and four-time champions Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Cricket lovers will get to see the thrill of cricket for almost two months.

The match will be played in home-away format

For the first time since 2019, the tournament will be played in 'home and away' format. Due to Kovid-19, matches were played only at selected venues in three seasons. This time all the teams will play matches at places other than their home ground. This time, apart from Mumbai, some matches will be held in Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Bangalore, Chennai, Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Mohali, Guwahati and Dharamshala.

This rule will be seen in the 16th edition of IPL

At this time, an impact player can bat or bowl in place of any player in the team. Even after the toss, the captain can change the playing eleven. Captain can take DRS for wide and no ball. Five penalty runs will be awarded for changing the fielder's position before the batsman plays the ball. Teams may only have four fielders outside the 30 yard line.

Bollywood stars will perform in the opening ceremony

Bollywood actress Tamannaah Bhatia, Rashmika Mandhana and singer Arijit Singh will perform at the opening ceremony of IPL before the opening match. This will be the first time since 2018 that the opening ceremony of IPL will be held. The year 2019 was canceled due to Pulwama terror attack. This ceremony could not be held in the last three years due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The numbers game in the tournament

The tournament will be played from March 31 to May 28 at 12 different grounds. A total of 74 matches will be played in 59 days in the 16th edition of IPL. The 1000th match of IPL will be played on May 6 between Mumbai and Chennai.

These big names will not be seen in the 16th edition of IPL

This time players like Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer, Jay Richardson, Kyle Jamison, Jonny Bairstow, Will Jacks and famous Krishna will not play in IPL due to injury.