Indian T20 Cricket League 2022 schedule: All you need to know

The 14th edition of the world's biggest T20 cricket league, the Indian T20 League, is all set to start on March 26 this year. The upcoming edition of the Indian T20 cricket league is going to be bigger and better with the competition welcoming two new teams — Lucknow and Gujarat — competing for the coveted trophy in an entirely reworked schedule and path to the knockouts or playoffs. 

As per the new format announced by the Indian cricket board, the 10 teams are now divided equally in two virtual groups of A and B, and all teams will play against each other at least once.

A total of 74 matches will be played in the upcoming Indian T20 cricket league with 70 of these to be held in the league stage, whereas the knockouts or playoffs stage will continue to have four matches as always. 

As per the Indian cricket board, the Indian T20 League 2022 will have a total of 12 double-header days in the 15th edition of the tournament, which begins with the clash between last year's finalists, Chennai and Kolkata, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on March 26. The match schedule and itinerary for the knockout stages will be announced later.

Meanwhile, here is the entire league round schedule and itinerary of the Indian T20 League 2022: 

The two new teams, Lucknow and Gujarat, have joined the competition with tremendous promise as they have two biggest Indian superstars in KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya as their captains while their squads promising the other teams a good run for their money. 

All the 10 competing teams have been able to reconstruct their squads in the mega auction which was held last month in Bangalore. While there were big surprises like always in the form of inclusions and exclusions, the mega auction also brought about  a fair idea of how the competition is going to be and how the 10 teams will look like going ahead, given that this was the last such auction in such a massive capacity. 

The Indian T20 league teams will no more be required to reconstruct their squads from scratch every few years hereon, which means that they can also get into long-term planning with young players who they deem are the ones for the longer run.

Who will host the Indian T20 League? 

As a welcome news for the Indian team cricket fans, the upcoming edition of the Indian T20 cricket league will be held entirely in India after the majority of the tournament being organised outside India for the last two years. Mumbai and Pune will be hosting the league stage of the Indian T20 Cricket League 2022, which implies that the 10 teams will be able to avoid criss-crossing the country while avoiding air travel, which is considered a major threat for the spread of the coronavirus infection — something that has in the past affected the tournament badly.

The Indian T20 League 2022 will start on March 26 and continue until May 29 this year. A total of 70 league matches will be played across four international venues in Mumbai and Pune. 

The Indian cricket board will be announcing the venues for Indian T20 cricket league 2022 knockout stage at a later point in time. 

The Indian T20 league matches will be played at three venues in Wankhede Stadium, DY Patil Stadium and Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, and at the MCA international Stadium in Pune. 

As per the available information, Wankhede Stadium and the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai will be hosting 20 matches each whereas the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai and the MCA International Stadium in Pune will be organising 15 matches each.

Additionally, all teams will play at least 4 matches each at the Wankhede Stadium and DY Patil stadium whereas 3 matches each at the Brabourne stadium and at the MCA international Stadium in Pune.

The new Indian T20 Cricket League format

For the first time since Indian T20 League 2011, the Indian cricket board and the governing council of the Indian T20 League have divided the teams into virtual groups and have announced a new format for the league stage of this year's tournament.

All the 10 teams will play a total of 14 league matches — 7 home games as well as 7 matches — which will make a total of 70 league matches. Each team will play five opponents two times and the remaining four teams only once, with two teams only at home and two only away. 

How are the teams divided into virtual groups?

The Indian T20 League governing council has taken a simple process of deciding teams in the two virtual groups which are named Group A and Group B. The teams have been given seedings according to their performances in the past, which means that Team Mumbai, who have won the tournament as many as five times, have been seeded No 1 whereas team Chennai, who have four titles to their credit, have been seeded No 2.

Keeping this in mind, the rest of the teams have been listed according to their performances in finals of Indian T20 league and if they have not reached the summit clash, they have been ranked accordingly.

The Group A of Indian T20 League consists of Mumbai, Kolkata (two title wins), Rajasthan (one title win), Delhi and Lucknow. Group B consists of Chennai, followed by Hyderabad (one title win), Bangalore, Punjab and Gujarat. 

Explained: Who is going to play who?

Each team will play two matches against every single team which has been listed in the same group, and with the corresponding team in the same row in the second group. They will then play one match against the rest of the other teams from the other group.

To understand this better, Mumbai will play two matches against each of Kolkata, Rajasthan, Delhi and Lucknow — teams that are in GroundA. Mumbai will also play two matches against Chennai — the corresponding team in the other group — while one match each against the rest of other Group B teams such as Hyderabad, Bangalore, Punjab and Gujarat. 

Similarly, a new team such as Gujarat will play two matches each against teams that are lined up with them in Group B — Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Punjab — while playing two more matches against the corresponding team placed in Group A — Lucknow — which will take their total to 10 matches. The remaining four league games for Gujarat will be against the other Group A teams such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Rajasthan and Delhi.

How do the teams stack up ahead of Indian T20 League 2022?

MUMBAI: The five-time title winners had retained their regular captain R Sharma along with the burly West Indian Kieron Pollard, ace batsman Suryakumar Yadav and their star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah ahead of the mega auction. In the two-day auction event held in Bangalore on February 12 and 13, Mumbai were able to add plenty of firepower to their ranks which included star England fast bowler Jofra Archer, even though he may not play Indian T20 League 2022 at all. Mumbai spent a huge amount of INR 15.25 crores on the budding India wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan, well they also splurged a lot of money on Tim David, a free agent from Singapore. Mumbai also added Australian fast bowler Daniel Sams along with the better in English cricketer Tymal Mills to their side. 

Full squad: R Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Murugan Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Sanjay Yadav, Basil Thampi, Arjun Tendulkar, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Jofra Archer, Dewald Brevis, Daniel Sams, Tymal Mills, Riley Meredith, Fabian Allen, Anmolpreet Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Aryan Juyal, Arshad Khan, Rahul Buddhi, Hrithik Shokeen. 

CHENNAI: The four-time title winners in the competition, Chennai continued to stick with their policy of buying back their core members from previous editions, as they went for players such as Deepak Chahar, Robin Uthappa, Dwayne Bravo, and Ambati Rayudu in the mega auction. Chennai were also able to add some other names in New Zealand's Devon Conway, Adam Milne, India all-rounder Shivam Dubey. M Dhonii will continue to lead Chennai with Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Moeen Ali as their core players. 

Full squad: M Dhonii (c&wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Chahar, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Narayan Jagadeesan, K Bhagath Varma, Simarjeet Singh, Subhranshu Senapati, Mukesh Choudhary, Robin Uthappa, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Prashant Solanki, KM Asif, Tushar Deshpande, C Hari Nishaanth, Moeen Ali, Dwayne Bravo, Chris Jordan, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Devon Conway, Maheesh Theekshana, Dwaine Pretorius.

BANGALORE: For a team which has given plenty of right signs and made the right moves over the last couple of years, which has also translated into on-field success, Bangalore did well for themselves in the mega auction last month. With V Kohli stepping down as captain and AB de Villiers announcing his full-time retirement, Bangalore are in need of a full-time captain and for that they have an excellent candidate in former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis. Bangalore have some really exciting players such as Mohammad Siraj, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood and Glenn Maxwell to name a few. 

Full squad: V Kohlii, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat, Shahbaz Ahmed, Glenn Maxwell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood, Faf du Plessis, David Willey, Mahipal Lomror, Siddarth Kaul, Sherfane Rutherford, Finn Allen, Jason Behrendorff, Karn Sharma, Suyash Prabhudessai, Chama Milind, Akash Deep, Aneeshwar Gautam, Luvnith Sisodia.

KOLKATA: The former two-time title winners hit the jackpot when they roped in one of the best batsmen in the format in Shreyas Iyer, whom they have revealed as their next captain. The middle-order batsmen showcased his talent when he struck three  unbeaten half-centuries against Sri Lanka in the recently-concluded series. Kolkata have some very experienced players in Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Alex Hales, Ajinkya Rahane and Mohammad Nabi from the international circuit whereas a promising Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana and Shivam Mavi are the players being nourished and nurtured for the future. 

Full squad: Shreyas Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Sam Billings, Tim Southee, Alex Hales, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Shivam Mavi, Umesh Yadav, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammad Nabi, Chamika Karunaratne, Sheldon Jackson, Rinku Singh, Ashok Sharma, Abhijeet Tomar, Anukul Roy, Baba Indrajith, Rasikh Dar, Pratham Singh, Aman Khan, Ramesh Kumar

DELHI: A team which has improved the most in the Indian T20 cricket League, Delhi have more or less remained on the path they were treading before the mega auction. One look at the Delhi squad for Indian T20 League 2022 gives an impression that the team has made changes, rather than replacements, for the players that we have lost. For example, David Warner has been drafted in place of Shikhar Dhawan whereas in the middle-order, Delhi have tried to plug in the gap created by the exit of Shreyas Iyer with the inclusion of Mitchell Marsh, Rovman Powell, KS Bharat and even Sarfaraz Khan. Their regular captain Rishabh Pant is also an excellent option at No 4, having batted for India in that position. Delhi’s bowling line-up remains as impressive as ever, with the presence of Anrich Nortje, Akshar Patel, Lungi Ngidi, Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur providing them with flexibility and multiple options to pick from.

Full squad: Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Anrich Nortje, Mitchell Marsh, David Warner, Rovman Powell, Khaleel Ahmed, Chetan Sakariya, Kuldeep Yadav, KS Bharat, Mustafizur Rahman, Lungi Ngidi, Tim Seifert, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Yadav, Pravin Dubey, Yash Dhull, Sarfaraz Khan, Ripal Patel, Vicky Ostwal, Ashwin Hebbar.

HYDERABAD: All eyes will be on the Indian T20 League 2016 winners Hyderabad, who have refurbished their squad under the able leadership of Kane Williamson. Hyderabad have been able to add some valuable players to their squad such as Nicolas Pooran, Aiden Markram, Glenn Phillips, Shreyas Iyer, Romario Shepherd, Marco Jansen, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tripathi and the experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The Hyderabad side has, for a long time, lacked depth in the middle-order  — especially in the Indian contingent — but with a start of a fresh season, Hyderabad will to keep their best foot forward the leadership of Williamson, moving on from the embarrassing drama that unfolded last year involving former captain and franchise legend David Warner.

Full squad: Kane Williamson, Nicholas Pooran, Romario Shepherd, Marco Jansen, Abdul Samad, Umran Malik, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Kartik Tyagi, Aiden Markram, Sean Abbott, Glenn Phillips, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Shreyas Gopal, Vishnu Vinod, Priyam Garg, Jagadeesha Suchith, R Samarth, Shashank Singh, Saurabh Dubey. 

PUNJAB: Punjab's was among the very few names mentioned when it came to talking about the teams who did well in the mega auction in February this year. Having let go of their run-machine and regular captain KL Rahul, Punjab found another leader in Agarwal while drafting an extremely promising players such as Shahrukh Khan, Shikhar Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Kagiso Rabada, Jonny Bairstow, Harpreet Brar and Arshdeep Singh in their ranks. It remains to be seen if Punjab are able to break away from the ailments from the last few seasons and how sturdy is Agarwal as captain in T20 format. 

Full squad: Mayank Agarwal, Arshdeep Singh, Shahrukh Khan, Shikhar Dhawan, Rahul Chahar, Liam Livingstone, Kagiso Rabada, Jonny Bairstow, Harpreet Brar, Vaibhav Arora, Raj Bawa, Prabhsimran Singh, Rishi Dhawan, Sandeep Sharma, Ishan Porel, Odean Smith, Nathan Ellis, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Benny Howell, Jitesh Sharma, Atharva Taide, Writtick Chatterjee, Baltej Singh, Ansh Patel, Prerak Mankad. 

RAJASTHAN: For a team which has promised a lot but has delivered less than what they promised year after year, Rajasthan have been able to reconstruct a squad which is promising enough to go the distance in the Indian T20 League. The inclusion of some big names in the circuit such as Devdutt Padikkal, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rassie van der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell, Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer makes them an extremely dangerous side on paper. Rajasthan have a well-balanced team and should look to go all out with their approach in the Indian T20 League 2022. 

Full squad: Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Devdutt Padikkal, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Trent Boult, Ravichandran Ashwin, Riyan Parag, Navdeep Saini, Karun Nair, KC Cariappa, Kuldip Yadav, Kuldeep Sen, Tejas Baroka, Shubham, Garhwal, Dhruv Jurel, Anunay Singh, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Neesham, Rassie van der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell, Obed McCoy. 

LUCKNOW: One of the two new teams in the tournament, Lucknow have Rahul as their leader going into their first-ever season, with the likes of Indian players such as Krunal Pandya, Ankit Rajpoot, Shahbaz Nadeem, Deepak Hooda, Manish Pandey and Krishnappa Gowtham in tow whereas in the overseas contingent, they have the likes of Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Mark Wood, Quinton de Kock, Kyle Myers and Evin Lewis to name a few. Rahul is a proven leader and player in the format on the challenge in the first few weeks and matches of the tournament would be to build the team from ground up, find a right playing XI and right combinations with the bat and the ball and get them running in all departments. 

Full squad: KL Rahul, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Mark Wood, Quinton de Kock, Evin Lewis, Dushmantha Chameera, Kyle Mayers, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Hooda, Manish Pandey, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shahbaz Nadeem, Ankit Rajpoot, Manan Vohra, Karan, Sharma, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Mayank Yadav

GUJARAT: In Hardik Pandya, the Gujarat side have a promising leader and player who can create a lot of impact on matches as well as tournament, but he too comes with some amount of baggage. It is not yet clear if Pandya is fit enough to bowl regularly and how good he is as a leader is something that remains to be seen. Gujarat have lost the services of Jason Roy who pulled out from the tournament but they have plenty of firepower in Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Wriddhiman Saha, Mohammed Shami, Matthew Wade, Dominic Drakes, Rahul Tewatia, R Sai Kishore and Abhinav Mukund to name a few. 

Full squad: Hardik Pandya, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Matthew Wade, Mohammed Shami, Yash Dayal, R Sai Kishore, Abhinav Sadarangani, Wriddhiman Saha, David Miller, Alzarri Joseph, Jason Roy, Dominic Drakes, Noor Ahmad, Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Gurkeerat Singh, Varun Aaron, Darshan Nalkande, Pradeep Sangwan, B Sai Sudharsan.