IPL 2022: MS Dhoni’s CSK and Virat Kohli’s RCB in THIS group as T20 league kicks off on March 26

MS Dhoni (left) and Virat Kohli. (Photo: BCCI/IPL)

The Governing Council of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Friday (February 25) announced the two groups and the division of matches for the upcoming IPL 2022. The IPL GC also finalised March 26 as the start date for the 15th edition of the IPL.

The tournament will kickstart from 26th March and the final will be played on 29th May. “A total of 70 league matches will be played across four international standard venues in Mumbai and Pune. The venue for the playoff matches will be decided later,” the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah said in release.

The 10 teams will play a total of 14 league matches (7 home matches and 7 away matches) totalling to 70 league matches, followed by the 4 playoff matches. Each team will play 5 teams twice and the remaining 4 teams only once (2 only home and 2 only away).

“To decide on the above, teams have been assigned in two virtual groups based on the number of IPL Championships won followed by the number of Final matches played by the respective teams,” the release read.

The two groups are: Group A – Mumbai Indians (MI), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Delhi Capitals (DC) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Group B – Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Gujarat Titans.

Check the IPL 2022 schedule matrix here...

This means MS Dhoni’s CSK and RCB featuring former skipper Virat Kohli have been clubbed together in Group B. It also means that CSK vs RCB will be held twice this season. “Each team will play twice with the teams in their group and with the team in the same row in the second group. With the rest of the teams in the second group they will play only once during the season,” the release read.

In Group A, MI will play 2 matches each against KKR, RR, DC, LSG. MI will also play 2 matches against CSK and 1 match each against other teams in Group B. Similarly, in Group B, RCB will play 2 matches against CSK, SRH, PBKS and GT. RCB will also play 2 matches against RR and 1 match each against other teams in Group A.