After Royal Challengers Bengaluru ended their long trophy drought with a famous inaugural IPL victory in 2025, talisman Virat Kohli laid down the gauntlet and made extremely clear what the ambition for the fresh year is: do it all over again, and this time, lift the trophy on home turf at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Heading into 2026, there are some complications regarding RCB’s home turf. The fatal and tragic stampede and chaos during their title celebrations has forced the KSCA to put the Chinnaswamy on hold as an international venue, meaning it lost matches during both the Women’s ODI and the Men’s T20I World Cups and those successful campaigns at home.
Even now, IPL matches taking place at the ground where it all started is up in the air. In the BCCI’s official statement, they noted the following:
“The matches scheduled in Bengaluru are subject to clearance from the Expert Committee constituted by the Government of Karnataka. The committee will conduct a meeting and inspection of the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on March 13, 2026, during which a full-scale mock demonstration of match-day arrangements will be carried out to assess the stadium’s preparedness for hosting IPL matches.”
RCB’s schedule in IPL 2026
With that in mind, the defending champions have been slated to kick off the IPL season, as has been tradition in this tournament. They are set to begin proceedings for the season on 28 March, when they host Sunrisers Hyderabad in what should be a lip-smacking power-vs-power contest with extreme quality on both sides.
Following a decent eight-day break early in their schedule, next up at home will be the IPL’s Great Southern Derby, as Chennai Super Kings come visiting – with MS Dhoni vs Virat Kohli battles growing rarer and rarer, a must-watch for all.
Following this, it’s a long roadtrip to the northeast, up to Guwahati where Rajasthan Royals will host them, and then back down to the southwest where the Wankhede Stadium will welcome the defending champions.
RCB’s first four games:
28/03 – RCB vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, Bengaluru, 7:30 PM
5/04 – RCB vs Chennai Super Kings, Bengaluru, 7:30 PM
10/04 – Rajasthan Royals vs RCB, Guwahati, 7:30 PM
12/04 – Mumbai Indians vs RCB, Mumbai, 7:30 PM
It is also worth noting that RCB are one of the few teams who are expected to split home venues. They will get five matches at home in Bengaluru as long as this week’s inspection goes to plan, but will also see two games held in Raipur’s Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium to boot.
