IPL 2026: Royal Challengers Bengaluru's home ground confirmed. Check details
The Indian Premier League’s 19th edition will commence from March to April 2026. Before this, the IPL 2026 auction will take place in Abu Dhabi on December 16. All teams have already confirmed their retained and traded players list, and after the auction, teams will have completed their full player list. Meanwhile, a new update has been added regarding the next IPL edition.
For a long time, an important question has been raised about whether the Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play their home matches in IPL 2026 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium or not. Especially when a stampede occurred during the RCB’s title victory last year after the RCB’s maiden IPL triumph, resulting in deaths and injuries.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the IPL 2025 title, ending an 18-year drought. After the victory, RCB’s title victory parade was held at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. However, a stampede broke out due to the larger-than-expected turnout, resulting in deaths and injuries. Following this, no major matches have been played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
After the Stampede, several reports emerged suggesting that the RCB would play all its IPL 2026 matches at a different stadium. However, according to new reports, RCB will play all their IPL 2026 matches at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium and will not find a new ground.
On December 7, former Indian cricketer Venkatesh Prasad was appointed as the new president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA). Following the election victory, he assured to bring the charm back to the association by reviving the IPL and international matches at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. He said,
“We are sitting here only because of all these people who have supported us, who have believed in us, and backed us through and through. They believed in our purpose, in our cause, they had faith in us and so did the members. We are going to implement our manifesto, whatever we have said. So, I thank you all for giving us an opportunity. And I am sure we are going to make sure that we do everything for the game,” Prasad said.
Apart from Venkatesh Prasad, Deputy Chief Minister of the Karnataka State Government, DK Shivakumar also addressed a query about hosting IPL matches at M Chinnaswamy, following his vote in the Karnataka State Cricket Association presidential election. He said,
“I myself am a big fan of cricket. We will ensure that an accident like the stampede that happened in Karnataka does not happen again and cricket matches continue to be held at Chinnaswamy Stadium as before, which will also maintain the respect of Bengaluru. We will not organise IPL matches anywhere else, and all the matches will be played at Chinnaswamy Stadium only. This is a big honor for Bengaluru and Karnataka, which we will try our best to maintain.”
It is almost confirmed that RCB will once again play their home matches at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Under the leadership of Rajat Patidar, Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the IPL 2025 title, defeating Punjab Kings by 6 runs in the finals. During IPL 2025, veteran Indian cricketers Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announced their test retirements. Fans can now only see these two great batters in ODI cricket. All the fans are eagerly waiting for the next season of IPL, the biggest reason being Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who will feature after 9 months in the T20 format. Apart from these two, MS Dhoni will also feature in the upcoming IPL edition, maybe his last.
