Chennai BBL 2026-27 opener: How to book your tickets

The Melbourne Renegades will meet the defending champions, the Perth Scorchers, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on December 12 to start the Big Bash League (BBL) 2026/27 season with the event’s first overseas game, and Cricket Australia (CA) is hopeful that they will even host an IPL game in the future if the BCCI allows them to do so.

The fixture is a one-off deal and was officially announced at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) during an event, attended by the Prime Ministers of India and Australia, Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese, respectively. The game has been partly funded by a grant from the Centre of Australia-India relations.

What's the news: BBL's first-ever match outside Australia confirmed for Chennai

The ground, which is the home for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, will host the game at 2:40 pm local time, which will be 8:10 pm AEST, to run directly after the end of the fourth day’s play between Australia and New Zealand at the Optus Stadium in Perth. The game, which counts as the home fixture for the Renegades, may overlap if the Test match continues to run by then.

Watch the BBL 2026-27 opener's announcement in Chennai here-

“There's certainly been interest from time to time at state government level and at venue level, and with some of our clubs to imagine what that could look like bringing an IPL game out here. The IPL's next level, isn't it, - and it would bring an amazing connection. We've seen already the hype around an NFL game in Melbourne.” The executive manager of the BBL, Alistair Dobson, expressed.

“It's not necessarily connected to this event or this initiative, but the opportunity to have those discussions when the time's right, I'm sure we'd be open to that, as would everyone across Australian cricket, because the IPL's got a huge following already in Australia.” He added in the same interaction.

The arrangement: Renegades vs Scorchers at MA Chidambaram Stadium on December 12

Unless forced due to COVID or elections, the countries haven’t hosted their T20 leagues outside of their country apart from Florida hosting the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

The Renegades and Scorchers squads will fly to India just after the sixth round of the Sheffield Shield matches on December 6, meaning the players, being involved in that Shield game, will have just four days to prepare. The full BBL schedule will be announced next week.

CA are setting a target of a high crowd, hoping to push for the sellout at a ground that holds 35000 people. Scorchers should feature the Australia T20I captain, Mitchell Marsh, and all-rounder, Cooper Connolly, for the fixture.

Mid-December is the end of Chennai’s monsoon season, which means there is a risk of the weather, for which the CA is considering whether to allow for more extra time than is the case in Australia rather than keeping a reserve day.

How to book tickets: What we know so far about sale dates and pricing

The ticket prices will be confirmed in the coming weeks. They haven’t gone on sale yet, but this year, the ticket sales will be in partnership with the BCCI, Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), and CA. The general public tickets are likely to be sold online through the ticketing partners and the official tournament website.

For the past high-profile games in Chennai, several platforms like BookMyShow and Paytm Insider had been used. Meanwhile, the two teams’ official websites and the TNCA will also have access to the local box office and stadium ticket information.