The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) earlier today announced the schedule for the 2021 VIVO Indian Premier League, stating that the tournament is set to commence on Friday, April 9 with the final slated to be on May 30. Keeping in mind the Covid restrictions and guidelines, IPL 2021 is set to ditch the home and away format, with six cities shortlisted for the competition- Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata. 

All games in IPL 2021 are set to be played in neutral venues, as no team will have a home game in the competition. Also, a given team will play all their league matches in four of the six venues, with scheduling done accordingly to reduce the risk of travelling and exposure. IPL 2021 will be kickstarted with a game between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Punjab Kings play their first game at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday, April 12 against Rajasthan Royals. KL Rahul’s side will continue to stay in Mumbai for their next two games as well, as they take on Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals next on 16th and 18th April respectively. 

Apart from Mumbai, Punjab Kings will also have games in Chennai, Ahmedabad and Bangalore, with their last five league games set to be played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Punjab Kings will also finish the league stages with a game against Rajasthan Royals. Team Punjab played the Royals in their season opener in the 2019 IPL as well, when they managed to beat them on their own turf in Jaipur for the first time ever, and fans of the franchise would be optimistic for a similar performance in 2021 as well. 

The afternoon games are scheduled to start at 3:30 PM this season in the IPL, with the evening games slated for 7:30 PM. There will be a total of 11 double headers in IPL 2021, with Punjab Kings playing three afternoon games in the season- namely against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. 

The scheduling has been organised such that every franchise will have to travel only thrice during the group stages of the tournament. The IPL this year at home will be played behind closed doors to begin with and a call on allowing spectators will be taken at a later stage of the tournament. 

Here is the full schedule for Punjab Kings for IPL 2021.