Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia has announced that the schedule for the opening 20 days of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be out in two to three days, as the officials still need to consider the election dates of several states.
The 2026 IPL season is confirmed to begin on March 28 by the broadcaster Star Sports. The statement came just before the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Final between India and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
As the assembly elections in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala are going to take place, the IPL schedule is to be announced in two phases. The first phase will contain the initial part of the tournament, and the rest will be decided later once the election schedule is taken into account completely.
🚨 Announcement 🚨
Get ready! #TATAIPL2026 is all set to start from the 28th of MARCH! pic.twitter.com/RF4Ixvo1J5
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 8, 2026
Speaking to ANI, Saikia said, “We will announce the first 20-day schedule of IPL in 2 or 3 days after considering the election dates in a few states and will announce the rest of the tournament schedule later.”
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are the defending champions. The Bengaluru-based franchise defeated Punjab Kings in the 2025 edition summit clash by six runs in Ahmedabad. Earlier this month, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Secretary, Santosh Menon, confirmed that the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium will host five of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 home games. He also confirmed that the venue will host the IPL 2026 final, along with one of the play-off matches in the tournament.
Notably, RCB’s remaining two home matches of their IPL 2026 campaign will be held at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
Cricket at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium had been suspended since June last year after 11 people died and several were injured in a stampede during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) IPL 2025 title celebration, with the stadium not hosting its share of ICC Women’s World Cup fixtures and getting no matches for the recently-concluded ICC T20 World Cup either. Even the domestic and state franchise-based tournaments had been affected by this suspension placed on the iconic venue.
