New Delhi: The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season is reportedly set to get underway in the final week of March next year. The next season will be the 19th season of the cash-rich league, which started in 2008. The ten IPL franchises were reportedly informed about the start date of the tournament during a meeting with the stakeholders ahead of the IPL 2026 auction in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
As per Cricbuzz, the IPL 2026 will kick start on March 26 and the final of the season will be played on May 31. However, the final schedule and venues of the tournament are yet to be confirmed. It also remains to be seen if the opening match of the tournament will be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Traditionally, the opening match of the season has been staged in the home venue of the defending champions. However, with the uncertainty surrounding Chinnaswamy Stadium’s availability for IPL 2026 matches, there is no clarity on whether the opener will be played in Bengaluru.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will head into IPL 2026 as the defending champions, having defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the final to lift their maiden IPL title last season. The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has obtained conditional approval from the state government to host IPL matches at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
However, the KSCA has been told that the matches can be played at the venue only after they implement the recommendations suggested by the Justice D’Cunha Commission that investigated the tragic stampede that occurred outside the stadium during RCB’s IPL title celebrations on June 04 this year. Earlier this year, the Women’s ODI World Cup matches were moved from Bengaluru to Mumbai.
More to follow…