IPL 2025: Venues for playoffs and final announced; RCB vs SRH moved out of Bengaluru

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has formally announced the venues for the playoff matches and final of the IPL 2025 season. According to reports carried by Cricbuzz, Mullanpur Stadium will host the Qualifier One game and eliminator match on the 29th and 30th of May 2025. Action will then move to the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad for the next two games of the season. 

The second qualifier and the finals will be played in Ahmedabad on 1st and 3rd June, respectively. Cricbuzz quoted one BCCI official as saying, “After the war, it is the weather.” The early onset of the monsoon has been witnessed in several parts of India and the game between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Kolkata Knight Riders was also washed out without a toss taking place. 

Meanwhile, Cricbuzz has also noted that the game between RCB and Sunrisers Hyderabad has been moved to Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium. The reason behind the move is the constant downpour in Bengaluru. Rain is predicted for the entire week and the game that is set to be played on Friday would have been a washout. 

BCCI makes huge change to match playing conditions

In a separate report carried by Cricbuzz, it has come to light that the BCCI has extended the wait time for a match to begin by two hours. The move comes into effect for the coming playoff games to negate the threat of abandoned games due to weather. BCCI has sent the revised playing conditions to all the teams that are set to play the final few games of the season. 

The statement from BCCI as quoted by Cricbuzz read, "Previously, the match playing conditions stipulated that for league matches, a period of 60 minutes of extra time was available to commence the match in the event of a delay. In playoff matches, this time was extended to 120 minutes. In light of the current threat of rain and the revised schedule, the IPL Governing Council has decided that effective May 20, 2025, all IPL matches (including league matches) will have a period of 120 minutes of extra time to commence the match." 

Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Punjab Kings have already qualified for the playoffs. The final spot for a place in the top four is now between Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians, with both sides having two games left. MI and DC play each other at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday and then take on Punjab Kings in their respective final games of the season.