IPL 2026 to run from March 26 to May 31, BCCI informs franchises

IPL 2026 will begin on Thursday, March 26 and run until Sunday, May 31. This emerged as the key takeaway from the meeting between the franchises and the IPL authorities in Abu Dhabi on Monday (December 15) evening. 

Whether the tournament will kick off at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, however, remains a major point of interest among franchise representatives who attended the pre-auction meeting at the W Hotel in Abu Dhabi.

The dates for IPL Season 19 were disclosed by Hemang Amin, the league’s CEO, during a briefing ahead of Tuesday’s auction. Traditionally, the opening match is staged in the city of the defending champions, but the availability of the Chinnaswamy Stadium remains uncertain. 

While the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has received a conditional clearance from the state government to host IPL games at the venue, it is subject to meeting stipulated safety and security requirements.

Asked about the possibility of kicking off the league at Chinnaswamy, a top BCCI official said, “We hope so.” He then went on to add, “The State’s Deputy Chief Minister (DK Shivakumar) himself has said so.”

The Dy CM was quoted as saying in the media recently: “We have decided about the IPL matches. We are positive. We have asked our Home Minister G Parameshwara to have a meeting with them (KSCA authorities). Parameshwara will discuss with the Cricket Association. The Home Minister will deal with it.”

The uncertainty surrounding the Chinnaswamy Stadium is due to the catastrophic stampede on June 4, which claimed the lives of at least 11 fans and left scores of others injured during RCB’s victory celebrations. 

Since then, the State Government has been steadfastly denying permission for cricket matches at the venue. The BCCI even had to move the Women’s World Cup matches out of the city.

Easwaran inclusion confirmed

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed the inclusion of Abhimanyu Easwaran in the auction register, as reported earlier by Cricbuzz. He is among 19 late additions to the final list that will be shared with IPL franchises ahead of Tuesday’s auction at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Easwaran has been listed as No. 360 in the spreadsheet.

Mani Shankar Mura Singh (TCA), Virandeep Singh (Malaysia), Chama Milind (HYCA), KL Shrijith (KSCA), Eathan Bosch (South Africa), Chris Green (Australia), Swastik Chikara (UPCA), Rahul Raj Namala (CAU), Virat Singh (JSCA), Tripuresh Singh (MPCA), Kyle Verreynne (South Africa), Blessing Muzarabani (Zimbabwe), Ben Sears (New Zealand), Rajesh Mohanty (OCA), Swastik Samal (OCA), Saransh Jain (MPCA), Sooraj Sangaraju (ACA) and Tanmay Agarwal (HYCA) are the additional names added to the register.

Late inclusions are not a new phenomenon ahead of an IPL auction, but franchise and BCCI officials say the sheer volume this time is unprecedented. “Never before have so many new names been added,” said a franchise official.

The total number of players in the auction register has now gone up to 369. A maximum of 77 players can be bought at the auction, and even that figure is conditional - only if all franchises fill their approved 25-player squads, something that rarely happens.

Meanwhile, the BCCI has informed the franchises that almost all overseas players will be available for most of the tournament. There had been some uncertainty over the availability of Bangladesh players, but it has now been clarified that the Bangladesh players may be unavailable briefly in April due to international commitments.

It was already reported by Cricbuzz that Josh Inglis of Australia (25 per cent), Ashton Agar of Australia (65 per cent), William Sutherland (80 per cent) of Australia, Adam Milne of New Zealand (95 per cent), and Rilee Rossouw of South Africa (20 per cent) will have limited participation in the season.

Source: Cricbuzz 

--Agencies