IPL 2026 shocker! Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s new home venue faces shutdown warning mid-season
The second new home venue for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Veer Narayan Stadium in Raipur, has faced shutdown warning during the ongoing IPL 2026.
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The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), under the captaincy of Rajat Patidar, has made a clinical start to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 in defending their title from the last edition that they won against the Punjab Kings (PBKS). They are currently in third position of the points table with four victories in six encounters at a net run rate of +1.171.
However, due to the death of fans, the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru won’t be hosting all seven of their home games. It has already hosted four games against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow Super Giants, and the Delhi Capitals.
Authorities issue notice over concerns at RCB’s new venue
The last home game for the Rajat Patidar-led franchise at the Chinnaswamy Stadium will take place against the Gujarat Titans on April 18, after which they will turn to the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur against the Mumbai Indians and the Kolkata Knight Riders on May 10 and 13, respectively.
And the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notices to six cricket grounds across India, asking them to explain why the activities at their venues should not be halted for failing to reveal the source of water used to maintain the pitches and the grounds.
The report had earlier disclosed several stadiums to submit this information to the CGWA (Central Ground Water Authority), which has currently been compiling the provided data.
The matter has put a plea challenging the use of groundwater or fresh water for maintaining the cricket grounds instead of treated water from the sewage treatment plants (STPs_ as well as their failure to install the rainwater harvesting systems for the recharge and conversion of the groundwater.
What this means for RCB’s remaining home matches in IPL 2026
An order was issued on April 16, where a bench, led by the NGT chairperson, Justice Prakash Shrivastava, with a few expert members, A Senthil and Afroz Ahmed, noted that the seven stadiums had failed to give any answer despite repeated directions.
The stadiums that have been issued notices are Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium, Raipur’s Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Rajasthan’s Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium, Lucknow’s Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium, and Mumbai’s Barabati Stadium.
“Hence, notices are issued to the six stadiums to explain why all activities should not be stopped on grounds of non-compliance with the tribunal’s order and failure to submit the required information.” The bench has expressed.
The tribunal has directed the authorities to communicate its order to the stadiums. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for July 12.
Fans react as uncertainty looms over team’s home ground advantage
Here is how the fans have reacted to the uncertainty of RCB’s second new home venue-
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