IPL 2026 Second Phase Schedule Announcement: BCCI has released the schedule of the second phase of IPL 2026. Earlier the schedule till April 12 was released. The last match of the league stage of IPL 2026 will be played on 24 May. In the second phase, a schedule of 50 matches has been released, which will be played on 12 grounds.

IPL 2026 will start from March 28 and the first match will be played between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Earlier the schedule was released from March 28-April 12, during which a total of 20 matches will be played. And 50 matches will be played between 13 April and 24 May. This means a total of 70 matches will be played in the league stage.

News

BCCI announces schedule for second phase of #TATAIPL 2026

The remainder of the league stage, comprising 50 matches, will be played from April 13 to May 24, 2026, across 12 venues in India

More detailshttps://t.co/iYGnB0Gd2J

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 26, 2026

Talking about the second phase, Punjab Kings will play their home matches in New Chandigarh and Dharamshala. On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore will play 3 home matches in Bengaluru and 2 matches in Raipur in the second phase. Apart from this, 4 home matches of Rajasthan Royals will be played in Jaipur.

Why was the schedule released separately?

BCCI had to release the schedule in 2 different phases because assembly elections are going to be held in 4 states of India very soon. Before the election date, BCCI had released the schedule of only 20 matches.

Now the dates of elections have come out. Elections will be held in West Bengal on 23 April and 29 April, in Tamil Nadu on 23 April, in Assam and Kerala on 9 April. After these dates were revealed, BCCI has released the schedule of the second phase keeping the security arrangements in mind.

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BCCI Issues Three And A Half Hour Rule For IPL 2026: Before the start of the 19th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has issued new guidelines. This guide has also sent a strict warning to all the 10 teams. BCCI has made new rules for practice sessions and warm-up matches, so that all the teams get equal opportunity to prepare and the quality of the pitch for the match is maintained. The special thing in this new guidelines is that the time has also been fixed by BCCI for the practice matches to be held under floodlights. If any team does not follow this rule, it may have to face heavy consequences, because BCCI has given instructions to strictly follow these guidelines.

BCCI made three and a half hour rule

Under the three and a half hour rule for IPL 2026, BCCI’s focus is on ensuring fairness and pitch protection in the match. According to this new rules of BCCI, franchises can play a maximum of two practice matches only, but for this they will have to first take permission from BCCI. However, these matches will not be held on the match pitch and if the practice match will be held under floodlights, then the entire match will not last more than three and a half hours. The reason behind this is to avoid excessive wear and tear on the square.

BCCI’s new rules for use of nets and pitch

Under this new rule of BCCI, no team can use the nets or pitch used by the opposing team. Every team will be provided with completely fresh nets and pitches. Additionally, if one team is practicing first, the other team will not be able to use their nets or range-hitting wickets. Not only this, there will be no practice session or match on the main square four days before the first home match of any franchise.

Who will benefit from these rules?

These rules have been brought by BCCI so that no team can take advantage of the condition of the pitch and everyone can get equal preparation opportunity. Now BCCI has taken strict steps regarding this. In such a situation, the visiting team will get a level playing field and the host team will not get much advantage of home conditions.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the schedule for IPL 2026 on Wednesday (11 March). But the schedule has been released only for the first 20 matches of the tournament. This is the schedule of the first phase. So let us know what is the reason for releasing the IPL schedule in different phases. An update in this regard was given by BCCI.

In the release issued by the Indian Board regarding the schedule, it was told that due to the assembly elections, only the first phase of the IPL schedule has been released, in which 20 matches are to be held.

What did BCCI tell?

BCCI said in the release, “Today the schedule of the first phase of the Indian Premier League 2026 has been released, in which matches will be played from March 28 to April 12, 2026. During this time, assembly elections are to be held in three states, hence the complete schedule of the tournament will be released only after the announcement of the election dates.” Now it will be interesting to see when the election dates are announced.

First match between RCB and SRH

The first match of the season will be played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad. This match will be played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. However, it is worth noting that the approval of the expert committee will be required for the match to be held at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Complete schedule of 20 matches

• March 28 – RCB vs SRH – Bengaluru
• 29 March – MI vs KKR – Mumbai
• 30 March – RR vs CSK – Guwahati
• March 31 – PBKS vs GT – New Chandigarh
• 1 April – LSG vs DC – Lucknow
• April 2 – KKR vs SRH – Kolkata
• April 3 – CSK vs PBKS – Chennai
• 4 April – DC vs MI – Delhi
• 4 April – GT vs RR – Ahmedabad
• 5 April – SRH vs LSG – Hyderabad
• 5 April – RCB vs CSK – Bengaluru
• 6 April – KKR vs PBKS – Kolkata
• 7 April – RR vs MI – Guwahati
• 8 April – DC vs GT – Delhi –
• 9 April – KKR vs LSG – Kolkata
• 10 April – RR vs RCB – Guwahati
• April 11 – PBKS vs SRH – New Chandigarh
• 11 April – CSK vs DC – Chennai
• 12 April – LSG vs GT – Lucknow
• 12 April – MI vs RCB – Mumbai

Also read: A new problem has emerged on the schedule of IPL 2026, there is an uproar over the first RCB vs SRH match of the season.

IPL 2026 RCB vs SRH 1st Match Problem: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday (11 March) has released the schedule of the first phase of IPL 2026, in which a total of 20 matches will be played. The tournament will start from Saturday, March 28. But the very first match of the season is under threat, which will be played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The first match between Bengaluru and Hyderabad will be played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. But BCCI has added a point by ‘note’ in the release issued for the schedule, in which important updates have been given regarding the matches to be held in Bengaluru. So let us know what the whole matter is.

Matches to be held in Bengaluru subject to approval

In the release of the IPL schedule, it was told that the matches of the tournament to be held in Bengaluru will be possible only after the approval of the expert committee.

The release read, “The matches to be held in Bengaluru are subject to the approval of the Expert Committee constituted through the Government of Karnataka. The Committee will inspect and meet the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on March 13, 2026, during which a full-scale mock demonstration of match-day arrangements will be conducted to assess the preparedness of the stadium to host IPL matches.”

RCB will play 5 matches in Bengaluru

If the stadium gets approval to host the match, then the RCB team will play 5 home matches in Bengaluru. The remaining 2 home matches of the team will be in Raipur. Now it will be interesting to see whether the stadium gets approval or not.

News

Presenting the schedule for the first 20 matches of #TATAIPL 2026, to be played from March 28 to April 12, 2026

Full schedule will be announced once poll dates are announced for three states set to undergo State Assembly elections.

More details … pic.twitter.com/8Iq492v8TE

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 11, 2026

There was chaos due to stampede

It is noteworthy that RCB had won the IPL title in the last season i.e. 2025, after which there was a stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium during the team’s victory parade in Bengaluru. 11 people lost their lives in this stampede. Apart from this, many people were injured. Due to this, matches will be held in the stadium of Bengaluru only after getting approval.

Also read: BCCI announced the schedule of IPL 2026, RCB will have a blockbuster match with this team on the first day.

BCCI has released the schedule of the first 20 matches of the Indian Premier League 2026. The first match will be played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad. The first match of IPL 2026 will be played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The schedule of the remaining matches will be released later. Keeping in view the dates of assembly elections to be held in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam, BCCI will take a decision on the further schedule.

From Chennai Super Kings to Lucknow Super Giants, many other teams have already started preparations for IPL 2026 and the players are sweating profusely in the training camps. Royal Challengers Bangalore will play as the defending champions, whose first match will be against Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 28.

News

Presenting the schedule for the first 20 matches of #TATAIPL 2026, to be played from March 28 to April 12, 2026

Full schedule will be announced once poll dates are announced for three states set to undergo State Assembly elections.

More details … pic.twitter.com/8Iq492v8TE

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 11, 2026

Matches will be played in these 10 grounds

In this schedule of the first phase, a total of 20 matches will be played on 10 grounds. These matches will be played in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Guwahati, New Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.

Apart from this, Royal Challengers Bangalore team will play its 5 home matches at Chinnaswamy Stadium, while 2 home matches will be played in Raipur. The crisis over the matches being held at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium is still not over. Last year, after the victory of RCB, there was a stampede outside this ground, in which 11 people lost their lives. Matches will be possible in Bengaluru only when approval is obtained from the expert committee constituted by the Karnataka government.

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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.