The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has finally reacted after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officially moved the IPL 2026 final out of Bengaluru. While the M Chinnaswamy Stadium was initially expected to host the title clash as per IPL convention, the final will now be played at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on May 31.
Ever since the BCCI announced the playoff venues, there has been speculation around why Bengaluru lost hosting rights despite Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) being the defending champions.
BCCI chooses Ahmedabad over Bengaluru
The BCCI, while announcing the IPL 2026 playoff schedule on Wednesday, had only stated that the change was made due to “certain operational and logistical considerations” and “requirements from the local association and authorities that were beyond the scope of the BCCI’s established guidelines and protocols. “ One would wonder if the BCCI had issues with safety concerns at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium or the MLA ticket issues. Now, for the first time, KSCA has publicly addressed the matter.
Speaking to ANI, KSCA spokesperson Vinay Mruthyunjaya admitted that the association has not received any official explanation from the BCCI behind the venue shift.
“There has been no official communication stating why the matches are not being hosted at Chinnaswamy Stadium. So we don’t have any official information as of now. But of course it’s a prerogative of the BCCI, and I like to respect the decision what BCCI has taken,” Mruthyunjaya told ANI.
| Match Stage | Date | Venue | City |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifier 1 | May 26 | HPCA Stadium | Dharamshala |
| Eliminator | May 27 | New International Cricket Stadium | New Chandigarh |
| Qualifier 2 | May 29 | New International Cricket Stadium | New Chandigarh |
| Final | May 31 | Narendra Modi Stadium | Ahmedabad |
MLA ticket row, stampede aftermath and renovation concerns
The Chinnaswamy Stadium has been under scrutiny ever since the tragic June 4, 2025 stampede during RCB’s maiden IPL title celebrations, where 11 people lost their lives and several others were injured. Following the incident, the Justice Cunha Commission recommended multiple safety and infrastructure measures, forcing KSCA to carry out extensive renovation and crowd-management upgrades ahead of IPL 2026. Kudos to the management that made sure that the work met the deadline fast as the IPL 2026 was approaching.
At the same time, another controversy erupted this season over complimentary IPL tickets for Karnataka MLAs. Several legislators demanded VIP passes and dedicated seating arrangements, stating that elected representatives should not stand in queues with regular spectators. The issue became politically charged enough for Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to intervene and announce ticket allocations for MLAs, MLCs and MPs.
KSCA helpless but proud of IPL 2026
While the BCCI never officially linked the final’s relocation to the MLA controversy or the stampede fallout, both issues possibly hurt Bengaluru’s case of hosting an IPL final for the third time. The city has previously hosted an IPL final back in 2014 and 2016.
Mruthyunjaya indirectly acknowledged that the June 2025 incident had created challenges for the venue.
“It is always the prerogative of the BCCI. So, the state association would not have any right to host any of the play-off matches. But of course, there has been a convention that whoever had been the winner in the previous edition, generally at that location, they would have the matches. And as you know right from the start, there were some challenges at Chinnaswamy Stadium for the conduct of the matches because of the incident which had happened on June 4th,” he said.
Despite that, KSCA maintains that Bengaluru successfully hosted RCB’s league matches this season and had informed the BCCI that the venue was fully prepared for the playoffs as well.
“In spite of many challenges, we conducted five matches very successfully for the RCB franchise. And also to the BCCI, we have sent a very detailed mail giving all the details of the conduct of all five matches. And also we have told them how the matches have gone through, and we also expressed our preparedness that we’ll be ready to host the playoff and final matches. But today, we got to know that the matches are not going to be played at Bangalore,” the KSCA spokesperson added.
Venues to host most IPL finals
| Venue | Number of Finals | Years Hosted |
|---|---|---|
| Ahmedabad | 4 | 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026* |
| Chepauk | 3 | 2011, 2012, 2024 |
| Eden Garden | 2 | 2013, 2015 |
| Bengaluru | 2 | 2014, 2016 |
| Hyderabad | 2 | 2017, 2019 |
| Dubai | 2 | 2020, 2021 |
| DY Patil, Mumbai | 2 | 2008, 2010 |
| Wankhede | 1 | 2018 |
| Johannesburg | 1 | 2009 |
Cricket
ICC announces Women's T20 World Cup 2026 Warm-up fixtures, India to play England and West Indies
