During the bidding process for IPL 2011, BCCI announced the draw for the tournament’s 2011 season that begins on April 8 and ends on 22nd May 2011. Each team is scheduled to play the same number of league matches (14, seven home and seven away) similar to the previous seasons, but with a change in how matches are piled up. Each team will play ‘5’ other teams both home and away, ‘2’ teams only at home and the remaining ‘2’ teams only away. A random draw (after lunch on second day of bidding) was used to decide who plays whom once and twice.
The IPL 2011 draw
| Team | Home and Away | Home | Away |
| Pune (Sahara Pune Warriors) | DD, DC, KXIP, MI, CSK | Kochi, KKR | RCB, RR |
| DD (Delhi Daredevils) | DC, KXIP, MI, Pune, Kochi | KKR, RCB | RR, CSK |
| DC (Deccan Chargers) | KXIP, MI, Pune, DD, KKR | RCB, RR | CSK, Kochi |
| KXIP (Kings XI Punjab) | MI, Pune, DD, DC, RCB | RR, CSK | Kochi, KKR |
| MI (Mumbai Indians) | Pune, DD, DC, KXIP, RR | CSK, Kochi | KKR, RCB |
| CSK ( Chennai Super kings) | Kochi, KKR, RCB, RR, Pune | DD, DC | KXIP, MI |
| Kochi (Kochi Bruisers) | KKR, RCB, RR, CSK, DD | DC, KXIP | MI, Pune |
| KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders) | RCB, RR, CSK, Kochi, DC | KXIP, MI | Pune, DD |
| RCB (Royal Challengers Bangalore) | RR, CSK, Kochi, KKR, KXIP | MI, Pune | DD, DC |
| RR (Rajasthan Royals) | CSK, Kochi, KKR, RCB, MI | Pune, DD | DC, KXIP |
To make it easier to understand – let’s take example of ‘Pune’.
Team Pune plays 5 teams (DD, DC, KXIP, MI, CSK) home and away, 2 teams (Kochi, KKR) only at home and 2 teams (RCB, RR) only away – a total of 5*2 + 2 + 2 = 14 games.
Apply the same logic for other teams.