With barely a month to go before the first ball is bowled, IPL 2026 still doesn’t have a published schedule — and the reasons for that unusual delay are rooted in a combination of state assembly elections and one of Indian cricket’s most painful recent tragedies. Here is everything that is currently known.

The Dates — And Why They Shifted

IPL 2026 will begin on March 28 and conclude on May 31 with the final, according to a report by ESPNcricinfo. The tournament was originally planned to commence on March 26 — two days earlier — but the IPL Governing Council shifted the opener back by two days following discussions on the overall calendar.

The broader schedule release, however, remains on hold. The IPL Governing Council is expected to meet next week to finalise the plan — but the core obstacle is three state assembly elections: Assam, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Election dates for all three states are yet to be announced by the Election Commission of India, and those dates will determine which venues are available during the poll-related security blackout windows.

Why these three states matter so much:

• Kolkata (West Bengal) → Home of three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders, at Eden Gardens

• Chennai (Tamil Nadu) → Home of five-time champions Chennai Super Kings, at MA Chidambaram Stadium

• Guwahati, Assam → Second venue for inaugural champions Rajasthan Royals, at Barsapara Stadium

Together, these three locations account for a significant number of the 74 league-stage matches across the tournament. If elections fall during the IPL window, matches cannot be staged in those cities due to security and logistics constraints — and the BCCI will need to redistribute fixtures across other venues or adjust timings.

A Two-Phase Schedule Is Likely

This is not the first time the IPL has navigated an election conflict. Since the tournament’s inception in 2008, the schedule has been issued in two parts on four previous occasions — whenever general elections (2009, 2014, 2019, 2024) or state assembly elections overlapped with the IPL window. IPL 2026 is set to become the fifth such instance.

The working plan, according to reports, is to release the first 20-25 match fixtures upfront — limited to venues in states where no elections are scheduled — and then release the remaining fixtures once the Election Commission announces election dates for Assam, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. This approach allows venues to be confirmed in compliance with the Model Code of Conduct while keeping the tournament calendar predictable for broadcasters and fans.

An additional logistical challenge is the T20 World Cup 2026 overlap. The World Cup final at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is scheduled for March 8 — just 20 days before IPL 2026 begins. Eden Gardens, MA Chidambaram Stadium and Chepauk (Chennai) are all T20 World Cup venues that will need to be prepared and handed over to IPL franchises within that narrow window. Ground staff at those venues will face significant pressure to ready the surfaces, facilities and broadcasting infrastructure in time.

RCB Won’t Be Coming Home

The most emotionally charged subplot of IPL 2026’s scheduling picture is the question of where Royal Challengers Bengaluru play their home matches. It now has a definitive answer — and it is a sad one.

RCB will not play at M Chinnaswamy Stadium during IPL 2026. The decision follows the tragic stampede on June 5, 2025 — the day after RCB’s victory parade through Bengaluru following their first-ever IPL title — which claimed 11 lives and left over 50 fans injured outside the stadium. The Karnataka government subsequently declared Chinnaswamy Stadium unsafe for mass events pending safety infrastructure upgrades. No IPL or major cricket match has been hosted there since.

RCB have instead finalised two alternate venues for their seven home matches:

• DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai — five home games

• Shaheen Veer Narayan Singh Stadium, Raipur — two home games

This will be the first time in IPL history that a franchise plays all its “home” fixtures at neutral venues outside their home city. For RCB’s passionate Bengaluru fanbase — the same fans who turned out in hundreds of thousands for last June’s victory parade — it is a bittersweet consequence of cricket’s most successful championship celebration turning into a tragedy.

The Governing Council is also expected to discuss the tournament opener venue at their meeting next week, given that it would traditionally feature the defending champion (RCB) — and neither Navi Mumbai nor Raipur are the conventional stage for an IPL opener of that magnitude.

What Fans Can Expect

There is no confirmed timetable for when the full schedule will be released, beyond “next week’s Governing Council meeting.” Given the Election Commission’s precedent of announcing poll dates well in advance of the election period, the two-phase schedule model should theoretically allow the BCCI to issue the first tranche of fixtures shortly and the remainder once election dates are formally notified.

For the ten franchises now just weeks away from the start of the season, the schedule is more than just a calendar — it is the tactical roadmap for home advantage, travel logistics and squad rotation. KKR and CSK, in particular, will be watching the Election Commission’s announcements very carefully.