Cricket fans in Bengaluru were heartbroken on Wednesday, as it was announced that the city would lose out on hosting the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 final.
With Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) holding pride of place as reigning champion, the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium was slated to host the grand affair. But in a surprising development, an IPL media advisory explained that the match would be moved to Ahmedabad owing to “certain requirements from the local association and authorities that were beyond the scope of BCCI’s established guidelines and protocols.”
Out of playoff schedule
Bengaluru has also been completely shut out of the playoff schedule, with Dharamshala and New Chandigarh set to host the Qualifier 1, Qualifier 2 and Eliminator outings. Before the start of the season, the Karnataka State Cricket Association was confident that Bengaluru would be allotted the Qualifier 2 fixture along with the final.
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar dismissed speculation that Bengaluru was sidelined because of MLAs demanding match passes. “Ahmedabad has a large stadium and more people can attend - that must be the reason the IPL final was shifted there. There is no connection between distributing tickets to MLAs and the shifting of the final match,” Mr. Shivakumar said.
