It was a big move by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to offer the rights to host at least one play-off match in IPL 2026 to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. BCCI has selected Dharamshala, New Chandigarh and Ahmedabad for the last four matches of the ongoing Indian Premier League season.
Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad has been given the rights to host the grand finale. Traditionally, the defending champion is allowed to host the play-offs.
Why is Bengaluru not suitable to host the IPL 2026 final?
This year Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) is the defending champion. Therefore, it was expected that their home ground, which is the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, would see at least one play-off match.
It is reported that BCCI was in touch with the Karnataka State Cricket Association before finalizing the venues for the IPL 2026 playoffs. In the final move, the board chose HPCA Stadium, New International Cricket Stadium and Narendra Modi Stadium, but why did they choose M. Chinnaswamy out of the equation?
According to a Cricblogger report, BCCI’s final decision to choose Ahmedabad to host the final was based on crowd capacity and ticket distribution. It is understood that one of the key priorities of BCCI is to allocate as many tickets as possible for the general audience.
Crowd capacity and ticket distribution may be two key points
The Cricblogger report claimed, “The BCCI choosing Ahmedabad over Bangalore for the IPL final revealed that only five thousand tickets were offered to the Indian board, as the Karnataka State Cricket Association required closer to thirty thousand tickets in a stadium with a capacity of thirty-five thousand. With the obligation to distribute a major portion of the tickets to the Karnataka MLAs, the BCCI was left with no option but to award the match to Ahmedabad.”
It further added, “With Royal Challengers Bangalore being the defending champions, it has become an issue for KSCA not getting an IPL play-off game. Of the four play-off games, two usually go to the previous year’s champions, while the rest are hosted by the runners-up.”
Although BCCI has its own explanation behind its final decision, KSCA was not sure whether the number of tickets offered to BCCI was the real reason for Bangalore missing the play-off matches.
Playoff schedule:
- Qualifier 1 – 26 May – HPCA Stadium, Dharamshala
- Eliminator – 27 May – New International Cricket Stadium, New Chandigarh
- Qualifier 2 – 29 may – New International Cricket Stadium, New Chandigarh
- Last – 31 May- Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
BCCI Secretary issued official statement
Speaking to the media recently, BCCI Secretary Devjit Saikia claims that all state hosting associations get 15% of their total capacity as complimentary tickets, but KSCA’s demand is more than this ratio.
“As per the normal protocol, all state hosting associations get 15% of their total capacity as complimentary tickets. But we have learned from various sources that while hosting IPL league matches, the Karnataka state association is taking more than 15% of the complimentary tickets,” Saikia told the media.
Guwahati, Assam: BCCI secretary Devjit Saikia says, “As per the normal protocol, all state hosting associations get 15% of their total capacity as complimentary tickets. But we have learned from various sources that while hosting IPL league matches, Karnataka… pic.twitter.com/tA8MTERFQo
– IANS (@ians_india) 7 May 2026
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