The opening Twenty20 encounter in the Cricket Board-promoted Indian Premier League will see liquor baron Vijay Mallya's Bangalore outfit take on Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata side at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium under lights on April 18.
The final of the multi-million dollar League, as well as the two semi-finals, would be held in Mumbai - and in all probability at the Cricket Club of India's Brabourne Stadium, Lalit Modi, IPL Commissioner and Chairman, said in Mumbai on Friday.
"The final will be on June 1 and the semi finals on May 30 and 31, all in Mumbai. We have the option of hosting these matches either at the CCI or DY Patil stadium (in Navi Mumbai). I guess they will choose CCI," Modi told reporters.
The IPL Governing Council had a day-long meeting on Friday with the eight franchise owners and representatives of the match staging associations for explaining the entire format of the IPL, the marketing strategy and guidelines, according to Modi.
"Seven or eight ICC Elite Panel umpires along with 16 Indian umpires would officiate in the tournament. The match referees are being appointed and we already have the anti-corruption and anti-doping measures in place," Modi said.
Modi reiterated that no national team sponsors would get protection in the IPL as demanded by Cricket Australia.
He also said that the "cooling off period of two years for just-retired players" can be waived by the IPL Governing Council, if it desires, as it has got the green signal for this from the BCCI.
"The BCCI has left it to the IPL chairman if the cooling off period (a player cannot take part in the League for two years after retirement unless he gets a no objection certificate from his home cricket board) needs to be waived. We have not decided yet on it," Modi said.
"No team sponsors will get protection from IPL. No, no and no," he emphasised when the question was put to him on the sponsorship row with Cricket Australia.
"We don't have any row. It's between them (Australian players and Cricket Australia)", he added.
Cricket Australia wants its global sponsors protected when the Australian players, who have their own personal sponsors, take part in the IPL.
"The franchises have informed us about the colours of their team clothing, but not their names. The clothing will have sponsors' logo similar to the Indian national team's," he indicated.
Modi said that the title sponsors for the event would be decided on February 13 while the date for the players' auction would be decided on Saturday after another round of meeting with the franchise owners when the various contracted players availability will be disclosed.
Modi also said that as a pioneering move, the IPL will sell tickets through internet and mobile.
"Ticketpro, a world renowned ticketing agency who did the ticketing for the Bangalore Test (against Pakistan), has been entrusted with the taks of selling tickets for IPL matches. It will be done on-line and through mobiles," he explained.
