Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), in all probability, will not play their home fixtures of the IPL 2026 season at the iconic Chinnaswamy Stadium, TOI reported.
According to the report, the defending champions will stage their home games at Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium and Raipur’s Shaheen Veer Narayan Singh Stadium.
Notably, 11 people had lost their lives in a tragic stampede incident outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium while attending RCB's maiden IPL title win celebrations in June last year. Since then, the venue hasn’t hosted any competitive matches.
“RCB will play five matches in Navi Mumbai and two in Raipur during IPL 2026. The RCB officials have finalised the arrangement recently after meetings with the concerned officials," TOI quoted a source as saying on Tuesday (January 13).
On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) home matches would be taken out of Jaipur as the ad hoc committee continues to govern the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA).
During the IPL 2025 season, RR played their first two home matches in Guwahati’s Barsapara Cricket Stadium and the remaining five home games were held at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
Last year, IPL chairman Arun Dhumal had hinted at the possibility of RCA losing out on hosting RR’s home matches after failing to conduct elections. Pune’s Maharashtra Cricket Stadium will reportedly stage their matches this season.
“We had already communicated to the RCA last year that, in case you are not able to organise these elections, it would be difficult for us to conduct the tournament there," Dhumal said after the IPL mini-auction in Abu Dhabi last month.
Coming to the Chinnaswamy Stadium, the Karnataka State Cricket Association – headed by former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad, has been trying hard to bring back competitive cricket to the historic venue, having conducted meetings with the state government recently.
Last month, Karnataka state government denied permission to the KSCA for hosting Vijay Hazare Trophy matches at the venue citing safety and security concerns.
A report by Justice John Michael D’Cunha in the wake of the stampede labelled the venue as “highly unsafe" for large gatherings.
