In a massive development, the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru has been denied the hosting rights for the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026.
Traditionally, the IPL final has been hosted by the home ground of the team that won the trophy last year, whenever possible. Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the IPL title last year – also at Ahmedabad, incidentally – so it was expected that Bengaluru would host the final this year.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has released an official statement on this matter, clarifying why such a decision was made at the last moment and why Bengaluru was stripped of the hosting rights for the IPL 2026 final.
Key Points
- The BCCI has officially confirmed the venues for the IPL 2026 playoffs and final.
- Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium will host the IPL 2026 final on May 31.
- Dharamshala will stage Qualifier 1, while New Chandigarh will host the Eliminator and Qualifier 2.
- Bengaluru’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium was originally scheduled to host the final.
- The BCCI said the venue change happened due to certain requirements from local authorities that were beyond its standard guidelines and protocols.
Big IPL twist! BCCI breaks silence on removing Chinnaswamy as IPL 2026 final host venue
In an official statement, the BCCI revealed that Bengaluru was set to host the IPL 2026 final, but the decision has been made to host the summit clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad because of controversies surrounding the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
“Owing to certain operational and logistical considerations, the TATA IPL 2026 Playoffs will be conducted across three venues this season as a special case,” the official IPL statement read.
“Bengaluru was originally designated to host the Final. However, owing to certain requirements from the local association and authorities that were beyond the scope of BCCI’s established guidelines and protocols, the venue has been shifted and reassigned.”
Also Read: IPL 2026 playoffs venues revealed; Ahmedabad replaces Bengaluru as final host
On Saturday, May 2, BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia had said that the board was working on finding out which venues would be appropriate to host the playoffs stages of the tournament.
Controversies at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru
After RCB won the IPL trophy last year, the franchise held a victory parade at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium – their home base. Unfortunately, a stampede outside the stadium took the lives of 11 fans while the celebrations were going on inside.
This incident ultimately stripped the venue of hosting pretty much any cricket for almost an entire year. A report from the one-man Justice Michael D’Cunha Commission stated that the stadium was unsafe for large gatherings, and all cricket at the stadium was stopped.
The KSCA tried to make efforts to bring cricket back to the stadium, but all of them failed, at least until the Stats Association negotiated with the Karnataka State Government to let cricket back into the ground.
This also meant that the ground lost hosting rights to the Women’s ODI World Cup co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka in 2025.
The Chinnaswamy Stadium could not host any domestic matches because of renovation work, but returned to play during IPL 2026. In this year’s IPL, the KSCA decided to leave 11 seats in the stadium permanently unoccupied in memory of the fans who lost their lives last year.
In IPL 2026, RCB’s home base hosted only five matches, with the franchise opting to host their other two home matches in Raipur instead.
Earlier this year, some legislators from the Karnataka State Government had said that they should be given a set number of tickets for themselves and their families to any international or IPL matches held in Bengaluru. It is unclear whether this is the reason BCCI took the drastic decision.
Many major finals at Ahmedabad in recent times
With the Narendra Modi Stadium set to host the IPL 2026 final, it would mark the fourth time in five seasons that the IPL final is being held there.
Since 2022, every season with the exception of 2024 has had the IPL final in Ahmedabad for one reason or another. Ahmedabad also hosted the finals of the Men’s ODI World Cup in 2023 and the Men’s T20 World Cup in 2026.
The Narendra Modi Stadium at Ahmedabad will also become the first stadium to host 4 IPL finals. The M Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai is the only other stadium to host the IPL final thrice.
