New home ground for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in IPL 2026 revealed

The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru won’t be hosting any games of the 2026 season of the Indian Premier League, as per the new reports. The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has been denied permission to host the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2025/26 games at the ground by the state government and police due to safety and security concerns. 

The same move is expected to take place in the IPL as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)won’t be playing any of the games at home. The defending champions communicated with the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune for their home games, but the latter is likely to host the games for the Rajasthan Royals. 

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The Times of India (TOI) has reported that the Dr DY Patil Cricket Stadium in Navi Mumbai and the Shaheed Veer Narayan Simgh International Stadium in Raipur. The former has hosted several renowned games of the WPL, Women’s World Cup, and the Indian women’s side.

RCB likely to play IPL 2026 home games in Navi Mumbai and Raipur

Meanwhile, the ground in Raipur, which hosted the previous IPL games of the 2015 season for the Delhi Capitals, will shortly host the second T20I clash of the five-match series against New Zealand. The crowd will be excited for the potential RCB games if they play their games in the presence of some star India and overseas players- including Virat Kohli, Josh Hazlewood, Rajat Patidar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and others.

Since Venkatesh Prasad took over as the KSCA president earlier this month, there have been several activities around the Chinnaswamy Stadium, and multiple meetings have been held with the government officials about the chance of the top-flight cricket, including the IPL, being played at the venue. They remain hopeful that the situation will change.

The KSCA had earlier moved the Vijay Hazare Trophy matches involving Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant from Alur to Chinnaswamy Stadium due to the security and logistical challenges. They are hopeful that it will be able to open the two stands, which could have seated 2000-3000 spectators.