The upcoming edition of the <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/ipl-2026-bcci-secretary-devajit-saikia-provides-an-update-on-schedule-for-upcoming-edition-23620191" rel="nofollow">Indian Premier League</a> (IPL) is set to begin from March 28. The schedule of the entire tournament will be announced in two phases due to elections in various states.
Earlier, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia had told ANI that the schedule for the first 20 days of the IPL 2026 will be announced soon.
"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," he said.
In the previous edition, the <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/rcb-vs-pbks-ipl-2025-final-royal-challengers-bengaluru-track-record-ipl-summit-clashes-23557429" rel="nofollow">Royal Challengers Bengaluru</a> (RCB) clinched the title. They defeated the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Narendra Modi Stadium 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 RCB's IPL 2026 home games. The venue will also host one of the play-off matches and the title clash of the tournament.
Bengaluru's remaining two home matches will be played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
Cricket at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium has been suspended since June last year. Following RCB's triumph, fans gathered in huge numbers outside the stadium. During the celebrations, 11 people lost their lives, and several were left injured in a stampede.
The stadium did not host any of the ICC Women's World Cup matches or the recently concluded Men's <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/t20-world-cup-2026-bapu-axar-patel-who-fought-to-defend-india-title-23620038" rel="nofollow">T20 World Cup 2026</a> games. Even the domestic and state franchise-based tournaments had been affected by this suspension placed on the iconic venue.
It will be interesting to see if the defending champions, RCB, manage to defend their title under the captaincy of Rajat Patidar.
Ahead of the tournament, Jacob Bethell, Tilak Varma, <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/suryakumar-yadav-and-gautam-gambhir-kept-telling-me-that-i-would-win-us-a-big-game-abhishek-sharma-23620094" rel="nofollow">Abhishek Sharma</a>, Dewald Brevis, and Ramandeep Singh are the top names to watch out for from the season. With these players, all cricketers will enter the cash-rich league after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2026. The "Men in Blue" successfully managed to defend their shortest format world title by defeating New Zealand by 96 runs in the final of the marquee event.

IPL 2026: In the previous edition, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) clinched the title. They defeated the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Narendra Modi Stadium

IPL 2026: First phase of schedule of the marquee tournament to be announced on March 11

Abhishek Sharma retains top spot in ICC T20I batting rankings

Earlier, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia had told ANI that the schedule for the first 20 days of the IPL 2026 will be announced soon

IPL 2026: First phase of schedule to be announced on March 11

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