IPL 2021: Tournament's chairman confirms 'No Fans At All' to be seen in stadiums this year

The Indian Premier League 2021 (IPL 2021) season is set to commence on April 9 with a match between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and defending champions Mumbai Indians. Remarkably, the tournament will be played in India after the previous edition was organised in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to the coronavirus crisis. Even though the IPL is set to return to its home country, it seems that the Indian fans will be deprived of witnessing their favourite stars in action at stadiums.

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IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel confirms “no spectators” for IPL 2021

In an interview with InsideSport, IPL Governing Council Chairman Brijesh Patel said that spectators will not be allowed to attend stadiums throughout the entirety of the IPL 2021 season. He said that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and IPL officials will ratify their decision at the upcoming Governing Council meeting.

IPL schedule 2021: All matches to be played at neutral venues

On Sunday, March 7, the BCCI released the entire schedule for the IPL 2021 season. In a major change, all matches will be played at neutral venues across six different stadiums. The aforementioned move was made to avoid home advantage for teams, considering that matches will not be held in the home grounds of Punjab Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals.

A total of 56 league matches will be played with each of the eight competing teams facing each other twice. The double round-robin format will be followed by the playoffs and the final will be played at the newly-renovated Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on May 30. Here is a look at the IPL 2021 dates for all matches.

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IPL 2021 dates: A look into entire IPL schedule 2021

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Squads of all IPL teams

On January 20, all IPL 2021 franchises revealed their entire list of retained and released players for the upcoming season. On February 18, they further enhanced their squads by making new additions at the IPL 2021 auction. After players’ retention announcement and the auction proceedings, here is a look at the entire squads of all IPL teams for the much-awaited season.

Check out how @mipaltan, @KKRiders, @DelhiCapitals & @ChennaiIPL stack up after the @Vivo_India #IPLAuction 2⃣0⃣2⃣1⃣ 👍 👇 pic.twitter.com/Icx5LhHjv3

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL)

Here's how the @SunRisers, @RCBTweets, @rajasthanroyals & @PunjabKingsIPL squads look after the @Vivo_India #IPLAuction 2⃣0⃣2⃣1⃣ 👇 pic.twitter.com/xyQAgLVV5R

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL)

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Image source: IPLT20.COM