IPL 2019 schedule, start date, venues, caravan format- what we know & do not know about Indian Premier League season 12

Indian Premier League (IPL) has announced the first 17 fixtures of 12th edition of the T20 League. Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening match of IPL 2019 in Chennai on March 23. 

Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers will play five games in the said period while the remaining six teams will play four matches each. The Capitals are scheduled to play three home games in the first two weeks while the Royal Challengers will play three away games. The rest of the teams will play two home and two away games each.

We had earlier learnt that IPL 2019 will not be shifted out of India despite a possible clash with India's general elections, which are expected to take place between April and May. IPL was held outside India in 2009 and the first half of the 2014 edition was held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) owing to the federal elections on both the occasions. (Image: AFP)

We also know what the teams look like after the 2019 IPL Player Auction held on December 18 in Jaipur. Unheralded architect-turned-cricketer Varun Chakravarthy fetched a sensational bid of Rs 8.4 crore, more than 40 times his base price, the same as Jaydev Unadkat. Veteran Yuvraj Singh was snapped by Mumbai Indians for just Rs 2 crore. (Image: @IPL)

For every complete squads and player bought at IPL 2019 Auction by each team, click here. 

The 12th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) will be played from March 23, 2019. IPL 2018 had begun on April 7 and the final, which was won by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), was held on May 27. (Image: Hemant Padalkar/DNA)

We don't know yet- BCCI has not annonced the date for IPL 2019 final as well as schedule of the tournament so far. With the 2019 World Cup starting on May 30 and the new BCCI constitution mandating at least 15-day window between the IPL and India's next international fixture, it very likely that the final will be played on or around May 12, 2019. (Image: AFP)

It was reported that about 20 venues across the country have been short-listed to the host IPL 2019 matches. According to an insider, venues like Pune, Lucknow, Kanpur, Thiruvananthapuram, Visakhapatnam, Ranchi, Cuttack, Rajkot, Guwahati, Raipur, Indore, and Dharamsala are likely to host IPL games apart from the regular cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mohali, Jaipur, and Hyderabad.

However, so far, BCCI has kept the matches at the usual home venues of the teams. (Image: DNA)

There were many reports suggesting that the IPL 2019 will not be played in the traditional home and away format. Many reports suggested that IPL this year may be played in a 'caravan' format covering many cities. However, the schedule of first 17 matches show that BCCI has kept to the traditional home and away format. It seems, BCCI plan involving multiple cities and flexible dates to ensure “no clash” with elections in any particular city will be kept as a back up plan. (Image: @IPL)