The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has officially announced the schedule for the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 Playoffs, setting the stage for a thrilling conclusion to the tournament’s 18th season.

Following 70 high-octane league matches, the Playoffs will begin with Qualifier 1 on Thursday, May 29, at the newly inaugurated PCA Stadium in New Chandigarh, where the top two teams of the league will face off for a direct spot in the final.

The action continues with the Eliminator match on Friday, May 30, also at the New Chandigarh venue, featuring the teams ranked third and fourth in the league standings.

The excitement then shifts to the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the world’s largest cricket arena, which will host both the Qualifier 2 and the Final. 

Qualifier 2 — between the loser of Qualifier 1 and the winner of the Eliminator — will be played on Sunday, June 1, while the much-anticipated Final is scheduled for Tuesday, June 3.

Originally, the final four matches of the IPL 2025 season were slated to be held in Hyderabad and Kolkata, but the IPL Governing Council revised the venues due to weather-related concerns and other logistical factors.

In addition to the Playoff changes, Match No. 65 between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) has been relocated to Lucknow from Bengaluru. 

The game will now take place at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, due to adverse weather conditions in Bengaluru.

To accommodate potential weather delays, an extra hour of playing time will be added to all remaining league matches starting Tuesday, May 20.

Fan Zone

Fans across Afghanistan can tune in to Ariana Television to watch the playoffs live. 

Until playoffs get underway, there are still a good few matches to be played. Today, Wednesday May 21, will see Match 63 take place at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai when Mumbai Indians take on Delhi Capitals.

This match starts at 6:30pm Kabul time.

Top Teams

As the race for the trophy heats up, there is still one spot in the top four up for grabs – and that will be decided in today’s match when Mumbai Indians take on Delhi Capitals. 

IPL 2022 winners Gujarat Titans however currently lead the IPL 2025 standings and have already sealed a place in the playoffs along with three-time runners-up Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings.

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) fell out of the IPL 2025 playoffs race on Monday night, leaving Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals (DC) fighting for the last remaining slot in the top four.

In their match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Monday, LSG made a storming start, with Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram putting on 115 at close to 11 runs an over. 

But SRH’s bowlers hit back with clever use of the old ball and limited them to 205, a total that proved inadequate in the face of a thrilling display of six-hitting from Abhishek Sharma.

SRH were already out of contention for the playoffs when this match began, but they showed their strength in their batting line up – even without Travis Head, who missed out after a bout of Covid-19 delayed his return to India.

Abhishek hit six sixes in a 20-ball 59, turning his team-mates’ task straightforward; with Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen and Kamindu Mendis also getting past 30, SRH reached their target with ten balls remaining, ESPNcricinfo reported.

LSG’s batting, yet again, was over-reliant on their big three, with Nicholas Pooran scoring 45 off 26 balls on the back of the openers’ half-centuries, and no one else reaching double figures. 

Having scored 108 for no loss in the first ten overs, LSG only managed 97 for 7 in the back half, as SRH’s bowlers pulled them back with their changes of pace.

The match officially ended in the 19th over, but its symbolic end came in the 14th, when Kamindu hit Digvesh Rathi for three clinical, back-to-back fours in his final over.

Speaking after the match, LSG’s captain Rishabh Pant said injuries to key personnel created “lot of gaps” that played a part in the team’s underwhelming IPL 2025. 

“It couldn’t be the best season for us,” Pant said. 

“Getting into the tournament we knew a lot of gaps were there because of injuries. We decided we won’t talk about that, but it became difficult to close out those gaps.”

Pant was seemingly referring to the prolonged absence of several key players. Left-arm pacer Mohsin Khan missed the entire season, while express quick Mayank Yadav, one of LSG’s prized retentions, spent most of the tournament on the sidelines. 

Other big-money signings Avesh Khan and Akash Deep also struggled with fitness issues and joined the playing XI only midway through the season.

“The way we planned the auction, if we had the same bowling [attack], the story would be different,” Pant said. 

“At the same time, this is cricket, things can happen. Sometimes they go your way, sometimes they don’t. Need to take pride in the way we’re playing. Need to look at the positives other than discussing more on the negative side.”

Tuesday, May 20: Match 62

Today’s match will see Chennai Super Kings take on Rajasthan Royals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, in Delhi. 

Fans in Afghanistan can tune in to Ariana Television from 5:30pm to watch the match live. 

Three teams have secured their places in the IPL 2025 playoffs following Gujarat Titans’ (GT) victory over Delhi Capitals (DC) on Sunday night. The three teams are GT, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS).

The result left just one playoff spot available, with DC, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in contention for it.

GT’s win on Sunday put them on top of the table with 18 points, followed by RCB and PBKS in second and third place respectively with 17 points each.

All of them have played 12 games. The maximum LSG can get if they win their remaining three games is 16 points; while only one of MI (currently on 14) and DC (currently on 13) can get to 17 or more because they play each other on May 21, ESPNcricinfo reported. 

If DC lose to MI, they will be eliminated. If MI lose to DC, they will need to win their final fixture against PBKS and hope that DC lose their last league match to PBKS, and for LSG to lose at least one of their remaining three games.

GT are making the playoffs for the third time in four IPL seasons; RCB for the fifth time in six years. PBKS are guaranteed a top-four finish for the first time since IPL 2014. 

The turnaround is a landmark moment for the franchise under their new captain Shreyas Iyer and coach Ricky Ponting, ESPNcricinfo reported.

While GT, RCB and PBKS have booked their places in the playoffs, they are still competing to finish in the top two, which will give them two chances of making the final. 

The teams that finish one and two on the points table play each other in Qualifier 1 for a direct route to the final. The loser of Qualifier 1 plays the winner of the Eliminator (between teams that finish No. 3 and 4) for a place in the final.