IPL 2026: RCB Likely To Play Home Matches Outside Bengaluru Amid Clouds Over Chinnaswamy Stadium

Royal Challengers Bengaluru fans will not be able to fill the M Chinnaswamy Stadium to see their favourite team in action for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League.

According to multiple media reports, the defending champions will be forced to play their home games in Navi Mumbai and Raipur. Reports in Times of India and News18.com suggest that the DY Patil stadium and Shaheen Veer Narayan Singh Stadium, are the front runners to host RCB for its home league games. A SportsStar report stated that RCB could be playing its home fixtures at the MCA Stadium in Pune.

The stadium has been under scrutiny ever since the June 4 stampede last year which claimed 11 lives. The venue hasn't hosted a single cricket match since the stampede.

In December, the Karnataka State Cricket Association denied the stadium authorities the permission to hold two Vijay Hazare trophy matches featuring Delhi. As Virat Kohli was expected to play for his domestic side, there were fears of a huge crowd turning up at the venue. The games were instead played at the BCCI's Center of Excellence grounds in Bengaluru.

All the knockout games, including the final of the Vijay Hazare trophy Elite, will be staged at the Center of Excellence grounds.

When the Ranji Trophy season resumes, Karnataka's match against Madhya Pradesh, scheduled to begin on Jan.22, will be played in Alur.

SportsStar, in its report, has said that the decision of RCB's home venue for IPL 2026 will be finalized next week.

There are chances that Rajasthan Royals could also be forced to play its home games outside Jaipur. The Royals play their home games at Jaipur's Sawai ManSingh Stadium. But the stadium is running into the risk of having IPL games as the Rajasthan Cricket Association has failed to conduct elections.

IPL chairman Arun Dhumal made this clear in his interview to Sportstar. "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 to Sportstar after the IPL auction in December.