IPL 2026 will start from March 28. BCCI announced the schedule of the upcoming season of the tournament last Wednesday (11 March). Currently, the schedule of 20 matches of the first phase has been released, in which the first match will be played between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SHR) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. But there seems to be a problem regarding change of venue in the very first match.
The matter is actually such that while announcing the first phase of the schedule, it was told in the release that the matches to be held in Bengaluru will be subject to the approval of the expert committee. If for some reason the matches to be held in Bengaluru are not approved, then we can look at changing the venue.
What was said about what is happening in Bengaluru?
“The matches to be played in Bengaluru are subject to the approval of the Expert Committee constituted by the Government of Karnataka. The Committee will inspect and meet at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on March 13, 2026, during which a full-scale mock demonstration of the match day arrangements will be conducted to assess the preparedness of the stadium to host IPL matches,” the release of the schedule read with a note.
Now everything depends on the meeting. If the decision in the meeting is not in favor of the stadium, then we can look at changing the venue. It was also mentioned in the release that this season RCB will play five of its home matches in Bengaluru and the remaining two in Raipur. Now it will be interesting to see what decision is taken regarding the matches to be held in Bengaluru.
Stuck due to stampede
RCB had won the title in the last IPL i.e. 2025. This was Bengaluru’s first IPL trophy, after which a victory parade took place in Bengaluru. During this parade, 11 people lost their lives due to a stampede outside the stadium. Apart from this, many people were injured. Only after this the question remains regarding the IPL match in Bengaluru. Earlier, the matches of 2026 T20 World Cup were also shifted from Bengaluru.
Also read: ‘Fixing’ before IPL 2026 creates stir in cricket world, ICC suspends former KKR player
