By Admin 
After the announcement of the possible dates of the 19th edition of the Indian Premier League, the schedule of the matches has not been announced yet by the BCCI. It was told by the board that the league will be organized from 26 March to 31 May. But now a possibility is also emerging that the dates of IPL may be extended. Actually, assembly elections are to be held in many states of the country this year, which may impact this league.
BCCI Vice President Rajiv Shukla had confirmed that the schedule of the tournament matches will be released only after the Election Commission announces the dates of the assembly elections. Let us understand it in 4 points and know what is the latest update on this.
Of course, BCCI has not announced the full schedule yet, but its possible dates were announced in December. It was expected that IPL 2026 would start from March 26 and the final would be held on May 31. There will be a total of 84 matches, the first match will be between last year’s champion Royal Challengers Bangalore and runner-up Punjab Kings.
IPL 2026 schedule not announced due to elections
Speaking to IANS, BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla said that due to the assembly elections in the states, the full schedule is not being announced yet. He had told that BCCI does not want there to be a conflict between the dates of voting and matches in any state. BCCI is working on the IPL schedule, but the announcement of election dates is still awaited. He told that once the election date is known, we will be able to decide the IPL schedule.
Elections may cause problems in these states
Assembly elections will be held in many states of the country this year. Meanwhile, BCCI is keeping its eyes on the election dates of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Rajasthan Royals’ home matches are to be held at Barsapara Stadium in Assam. M Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai is the home ground of CSK. KKR plays its home matches at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Discussion on RR’s home venue
The report quoted Rajeev Shukla as saying, “The BCCI has asked the franchises regarding the home venue of RCB and Rajasthan Royals and has asked them to take the final decision within a week. Within a week, both the franchises will decide their home ground, according to which the schedule will be made. Currently, the decision of both the teams and the announcement of the election dates are awaited.”
The home ground of Rajasthan Royals is Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. But due to the controversy between Rajasthan Cricket Association and the franchise, there is a possibility that the match will not be held on this ground. Rajasthan can choose Guwahati as its home ground, but elections are to be held there.
RCB’s home venue has not been decided
The first match of IPL has been held at the home ground of the traditional champion team, that is, the opening match should be held at the home ground of Royal Challengers Bangalore. But the home ground of RCB has not been finalized yet. Although M Chinnaswamy Stadium has been the home ground of RCB since the first season, but after the death of many people in the stampede last year, the state government had banned organizing games here.
Last week, the state government has given approval to Karnataka State Cricket Association to organize IPL and international matches with conditions. RCB also announced the installation of an Artificial Intelligence system worth Rs 4.5 crore here, so that accidents can be prevented.