Even before the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League gets underway, the second season of the BCCI-backed Twenty20 venture has been scheduled tentatively from April 10 to May 29, 2009.
IPL Chairman Lalit Modi made the announcement in Mumbai on Tuesday, adding the format of the tournament would remain unchanged in its second season.
The eight franchisees will first play against one another in a league on home-and-away basis. The top four teams will then figure in the two semi-finals and the winners of the semi-finals will clash in the final.
The first edition of the IPL kicks off on April 18 with a game between Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knight Riders in Bangalore, and will end on June 1.
"The dates of the second season of the DLF Indian Premier League were decided at a meeting of the Governing Council of the DLF Indian Premier League held in Mumbai. I am confident of the inaugural season becoming a huge success and the second season will be even a bigger success," Modi said in a release.
