RCB reportedly to get two new venues for their home games in IPL 2026
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium were denied hosting rights due to stampede last year
RCB are the current holders of the IPL trophy
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will have a new home for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 campaign, as per a report in The Times of India. RCB will not be playing their matches at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium following the deadly stampede during the team’s victory parade last year.
Reportedly, Virat Kohli & co. will play their home games at Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium and Raipur’s Shaheen Veer Narayan Singh Stadium next season.
“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," a source close to franchise was quoted as per in The Times of India on Tuesday.
On the other side, Rajasthan Royals will most likely play their home games at the Maharashtra Cricket Stadium in Pune. IPL Chairman Arun Dhumal last year hinted that RR won't play their games at the venue after Rajasthan Cricket Association failed to conduct elections.
“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 had said after the IPL mini-auction in Abu Dhabi.
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium has not hosted an international game after the fatal stampede on June 4 that claimed 11 lives and 50 injured. Despite Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) having held several meetings with the state government to bring cricket back to the venue, there has been progress yet.
Just last December, the Karnataka state government denied the KSCA to host the Vijay Hazare Trophy matches at the venue amidst security reasons, due to which they were shifted to the BCCI's Centre of Excellence.
