In an unprecedented move, the IPL has announced the dates for the next three seasons. IPL 2025 will begin on March 14 and the final on May 25. The 2026 season will be played between March 15th and May 31st, while the 2027 season will be played between March 14th and May 30th.
In the new rights cycle notice, the IPL listed a variable number of games per season: ranging from 74 games each in 2023 and 2024, 84 games each in 2025 and 2026, and a maximum of 94 games for the final year of the agreement in 2027.
Foreign players signal full availability
In a major boost to the franchises, overseas players from most Full Member countries have received the go-ahead from their individual boards to play for the next three years in the IPL. This does not include Pakistan, whose players have not participated in the IPL since the inaugural season in 2008 due to the political impasse between the governments of both countries.
The following is the availability of foreign players across the country for the next three seasons of the IPL between 2025 and 2027, as listed by the IPL in the email:
Australia: Cricket Australia (CA) has cleared all of its players – both international and domestic – to play in the 2025 season. In 2026, Australia will take part in a three-match ODI series in Pakistan, which CA revealed will “conclude as soon as no later than March 18”. The Australian players taking part in that series as well as those resting after the T20 World Cup (scheduled in India and Sri Lanka in February-March 2026) will join the IPL after the Pakistan tour. In 2027, Australian players who took part in the one-off Test between Australia and England in March to celebrate 150 years of Test cricket will come together after the match.
England: The ECB has come up with a list of 18 centrally contracted players who will be fully available for the next three seasons of the IPL. One big name missing from this list includes England Test captain Ben Stokes, who did not enter the 2025 IPL mega auction. The list of players who will be fully available between 2025 and 2027 includes: Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Olly Stone and Reece Topley.
The ECB highlighted that some of these players will be “out of contract” at some point during the 2025-27 period, but as long as they are contracted they will be available to play in the IPL. Non-centrally contracted English players will be fully available for the next three seasons.
South Africa, New Zealand, West Indies, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe: Players from these countries will be fully available.
Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said its players will be fully available for the 2025 season. Those retained before 2026 and 2027 will be available again.
Bangladesh: The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) sent 13 names with varying availability for each player over the three-year period. The list includes: Taskin Ahmed, Litton Kumar Das, Mahedi Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Towhid Hridoy, Shoriful Islam, Shohidul Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Nahid Rana, Tanzim Hasan Sakib
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