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In a first-ever move, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has announced the dates for the next three seasons. IPL 2025 will commence on March 14, with the final scheduled for May 25. The 2026 season is slated to run from March 15 to May 31, while the 2027 season will take place between March 14 and May 30.

The IPL, in an email sent to franchises on Thursday (accessed by ESPNcricinfo), referred to these dates as "windows," although it is expected that these could become the final schedules. The 2025 season will feature 74 matches, the same as in the previous three seasons, but significantly fewer than the 84 matches initially proposed for 2025 in the IPL's media rights tender for the 2023-2027 cycle. In that tender, the IPL outlined a range of matches for each season: 74 games in 2023 and 2024, 84 matches in 2025 and 2026, and up to 94 matches in 2027.

OVERSEAS PLAYERS CONFIRMED FOR FULL AVAILABILITY

In a significant boost for the franchises, most overseas players from Full Member nations have received approval from their respective cricket boards to play in the IPL from 2025 to 2027. However, players from Pakistan will not feature, as political tensions between India and Pakistan have kept Pakistani cricketers from participating since the inaugural IPL season in 2008.

Here's the country-wise breakdown of overseas players' availability for the next three IPL seasons:

• - AUSTRALIA: Cricket Australia (CA) has granted full clearance to all Australian players, including both international and domestic cricketers, to participate in IPL 2025. However, in 2026, CA players will join the tournament after completing a three-match ODI series against Pakistan, which is scheduled to finish by March 18. Australian players may also join later in 2027, following a one-off Test against England, marking 150 years of Test cricket.

• - ENGLAND: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed that 18 centrally contracted players will be available for the IPL over the next three seasons. Notably, England's Test captain, Ben Stokes, is absent from the 2025 IPL mega auction. The full list of players available includes Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, and others. Some of these players may be "out of contract" during the 2025-2027 period, but as long as they are contracted, they will be available for IPL.

• - SOUTH AFRICA, NEW ZEALAND, WEST INDIES, AFGHANISTAN, AND ZIMBABWE: Players from these countries will be fully available for the 2025-2027 IPL seasons.

• - SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has confirmed that its players will be available for IPL 2025. Players retained for the 2026 and 2027 seasons will remain available as well.

• - BANGLADESH: The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has shared a list of 13 players with varying availability over the three years. This includes prominent names like Shakib Al Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Litton Kumar Das, Taskin Ahmed, and others.

This release of availability for foreign players is a major development, ensuring that franchises will have their full roster of international stars for the upcoming IPL seasons.