Chennai to host Qualifier 1 and Eliminator of IPL 2023

The MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai will host Qualifier 1 of IPL 2023 on May 23 and Eliminator on May 24. The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will be the host for Qualifier 2 on May 26 and the final on May 28.

Last year too Ahmedabad had hosted Qualifier 2 and the final. In the final, Gujarat Titans beat Rajasthan Royals to lift the trophy in their inaugural season. The 2023 season too kicked off in Ahmedabad, where Titans beat Chennai Super Kings.

Currently, Royals are at the top of the points table with four wins from six games. Just below them, and separated only by the net run rate, are Lucknow Super Giants. Titans are fourth with six points from five games.

This year, the competition is being played in the home-and-away format for the first time after a gap of three years. In 2020, the tournament had to be postponed from the March-May window to September-November and moved to the UAE because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2021, there was an attempt to play in the Indian summer but a breach of the biosecure bubble led to the season being interrupted midway, and the second half of the season resumed in the UAE in September. In 2022, the tournament was played in the March-May window in India, but the entire league phase was played at venues in Mumbai and Pune, and the playoffs and final in Kolkata and Ahmedabad.