The Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be held between August 26 and September 15, with all 33 games to be played at Warner Park in St Kitts and Nevis, Cricket West Indies (CWI) has confirmed. Last month, ESPNcricinfo had reported that CWI and the BCCI had reached an agreement for these dates following discussions about a potential clash with the second half of the IPL in September, and the consequent unavailability of West Indies' players in the IPL, as well as staff and franchise owners who are involved in both tournaments.
The CPL was originally scheduled to start on August 28, and end on September 19, but that changed after the BCCI began talks with CWI and the CPL, immediately after it identified the September-October window for wrapping up the remainder of the postponed 2021 IPL.
BREAKING: Hero CPL 2021 Fixtures announced! Read More https://t.co/iBwULs133G #CPL21 #CricketPlayedLouder #BiggestPartyInSport pic.twitter.com/nlsMpvjVmP
— CPL T20 (@CPL) July 14, 2021
The tournament will now be played entirely in a double-header format, and begins with a 10am EST game between Guyana Amazon Warriors and defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders, followed by a 7pm game between Barbados Tridents and St Kitts & Nevis Patriots. There will be breaks on August 30, September 3, 6 and 10, before the league stage finishes with triple-headers on September 11 and 12. The semi-finals and final will take place on September 14 and 15 respectively.
All the games will be played in just under three weeks. The challenge for both CWI and the CPL is that there aren't many free days in a packed home season. West Indies are currently playing a white-ball series comprising five T20Is and three ODIs against Australia, which will end on July 24. Three days later, the Pakistan tour kicks off with a five-match T20I series followed by two Tests, scheduled to end on August 24.