The stage is set for the highly anticipated Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, which is all geared up to kick off on March 22. The grand opening ceremony will take place at Eden Gardens before the first match between Kolkata and Bengaluru (KKR vs RCB). This two-month-long extravaganza, which is the world’s largest cricket league, will feature matches at 13 different venues. The IPL will follow a home and away format, where teams will have to travel to different venues for each match, which can be quite taxing for the players. As it turns out, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will have to undertake the most extensive travel, while Sunrisers Hyderabad will enjoy the most rest.
Throughout the tournament, each team will play 14 matches, with 7 games at their home ground and 7 at the opponent’s home ground. The amount of travel that players undergo is a crucial factor, as seen in a recent tournament where travel was a major issue. India played all their matches in Dubai, while other teams had to travel from Pakistan to Dubai to play against India. South Africa’s batsman David Miller, whose team lost in the semifinals, expressed his concerns about the travel, saying, “We didn’t know where we would play the semifinals, and after it was confirmed, we had to take a morning flight, which was not ideal.”
Now, looking at IPL 2025, RCB players are in for a tough time. According to reports, the team will have to travel a whopping 17,000 kilometers during the league stage, the most among all 10 teams. On the other hand, Sunrisers Hyderabad will have it relatively easy, with a travel distance of just 8,536 kilometers, which is roughly half of RCB’s travel time. Here’s a breakdown of the travel distances for each team:
- Sunrisers Hyderabad – 8,536 km
- Delhi Capitals – 9,270 km
- Lucknow Super Giants – 9,747 km
- Gujarat Titans – 10,405 km
- Mumbai Indians – 12,702 km
- Rajasthan Royals – 12,730 km
- Kolkata Knight Riders – 13,537 km
- Punjab Kings – 14,341 km
- Chennai Super Kings – 16,184 km
- Royal Challengers Bangalore – 17,084 km
The matches will be held at the following 13 venues:
- Arun Jaitley Stadium
- Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium
- Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium
- Eden Gardens
- Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium
- M. Chinnaswamy Stadium
- M.A. Chidambaram Stadium
- Narendra Modi Stadium
- New PCA Stadium
- Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium
- Sawai Mansingh Stadium
- Wankhede Stadium
As the teams gear up for the grueling tournament, one thing is certain – the extensive travel will take a toll on the players. It will be interesting to see how the teams manage their travel and player fatigue to stay ahead in the competition.