Bengaluru: After 10 months of lull and suspense, it’s back to business at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will host Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 opener at the Bengaluru stadium on March 28 as the Indian cricket board announced the schedule for the first phase on Wednesday.RCB will play four matches in the first phase. After the opener, RCB will host Chennai Super Kings on April 5 in the southern derby. Later, they will take on Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati on April 10 and Mumbai Indians in Mumbai on April 12.The matches scheduled in Bengaluru are subject to clearance from the expert committee constituted by the state government. The committee will hold a meeting and inspect the stadium on March 13. A full-scale mock demonstration of match-day arrangements will be carried out on the day to assess the stadium’s preparedness to host IPL matches.“As three states are scheduled to go to elections during this period, the full schedule of the tournament will be announced once the poll dates are announced,” a BCCI press release said.RCB’s matchesvs SRH (B’luru, Mar 28)vs CSK (B’luru, Apr 5)vs RR (Guwahati, Apr 10)vs MI (Mumbai, Apr 12)
