New Delhi, Mar 7 (IANS): The 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) will start on April 9 and its final will be held on May 30, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Sunday. Mumbai Indians face Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first match of the season which will be played in Chennai.

The matches will be played in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, the BCCI said on Sunday. The final will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. All matches will be played behind closed doors, with the BCCI saying that a call on allowing spectators will be taken at a later stage of the tournament.

Each team is set to play at four venues during the league stage. Out of the 56 league matches, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru will host 10 matches each while Ahmedabad and Delhi will host 8 matches each. The board said that matches have been designed in such a way that each team will travel only three times during the league stage.

"One of the highlights of this edition of the VIVO IPL will be the fact that all matches will be played at neutral venues, no team will play at their home venue. All teams will play at four out of six venues during the league stage," said the BCCI in its statement.

There will be a total of 11 double headers where six teams will play three afternoon matches and two teams will play two afternoon matches. The afternoon games are slated for a 3.30 p.m. IST start while the evening games will have a 7.30 p.m. start.