The schedule for the season was announced on 10 March 2016. In all there will be 60 matches played, including 56 league stage matches and four play-off matches.[1]
The 2016 season will be the first IPL season to use LED stumps. The number of IPL fan parks, which was 16 during the 2015 season, will be increased to 36 (including one fan park in New Jersey)
On 14 July 2015, the RM Lodha committee suspended the owners of the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals franchises for a period of two years on charges of spot-fixing and betting during the 2013 IPL season. This meant that the two teams could not play in the 2016 and 2017 IPL seasons.[3] The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that two new teams will replace them for the next two seasons of the IPL.
In October 2015, PepsiCo withdrew as the title sponsor of the IPL, terminating a five-year deal which was to end in 2017. Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo Electronics was awarded the title sponsorship for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.In November 2015, the BCCI shortlisted nine cities for the new franchises to be based in, leaving out Jaipur (home of Rajasthan Royals) and Kochi (home of the now defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala) for unknown reasons.[5] The nine cities shortlisted were: Chennai, Cuttack, Dharamsala, Indore, Nagpur, Pune, Rajkot, Ranchi and Visakhapatnam.[6] The new franchises were allocated using a reverse auction process, with companies which bid the lowest share of the central revenue pool becoming the owners of the new teams.[5] On 3 December, it was reported that twelve companies collected tender documents for the bidding process.[7]
On 8 December 2015, it was announced that New Rising, a company led by Sanjiv Goenka, and Intex Technologies had won the bidding rights to the two new teams. New Rising decided to have their team based in Pune while Intex chose Rajkot as the home of its team.[8] The two franchises picked five players each from the squads of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals at a player draft on 15 December 2015. Each franchise was allocated a purse of ₹66 crore to buy the players for their squad at the draft and players auction.
Maharashtra water crisis
On 6 April 2016, amid a drought situation in the state of Maharashtra, in which three venues (Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur) were supposed to host a total of 20 IPL matches in the 2016 season, the Bombay High Court questioned the "criminal wastage" of water being supplied to the three stadiums in a response to a petition from the Lok Satta Movement NGO. The drought has been described as one of the "worst-ever droughts" to effect the state and is believed to be one of the worst droughts in 100 years. An estimated 60 lakh litres (6 million litres)of water were to be used at the three venues to maintain the pitches, with 40 lakh litres being used at the Wankhede Stadium, the site of seven matches. The High Court filed a public interest litigation and suggested shifting matches to "some other state where water is in abundance." The High Court questioned the BCCI about whether "people are more important or your IPL matches" The BCCI argued that the water being used at the venues was tanker water and not drinkable.
On 8 April, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis declared that potable water will not be supplied to the venues and added "even if IPL matches are shifted, we have no problem." On 9 April 2016, hours before the season's opening match, the Mumbai Cricket Association claimed that the water being used at the Wankhede Stadium was bought from private operators and not Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
On 13 April, the Bombay High Court ruled that all the matches to be held in the state in May must be moved to venues outside of Maharashtra. A total of 13 matches were scheduled to be hosted by the three venues in Maharashtra, including two playoff matches in Pune and the final in Mumbai.
Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony was held on 8 April 2016 from 19:30 IST at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in Mumbai. It featured performances from Major Lazer, Yo Yo Honey Singh,Ranveer Singh, Katrina Kaif, Jacqueline Fernandez among others. Dwayne Bravo, a member of the West Indies' 2016 World Twenty20 winning team, performed the "Champion Dance", which, according to the IPL chairman, was supposed to be the "special attraction" of the ceremony.
Venues
Ten venues were selected to host the league stage matches. Bangalore will host Qualifier 1, Pune was scheduled to host the Eliminator match and Qualifier 2 and Mumbai was scheduled to host the Final. The drought situation in Maharashtra led to a ruling in theBombay High Court that games to be played in the state, including in Pune and Mumbai, in May would have to be moved to other regions in order to allow water supplies to be prioritised.
