Mumbai Indians have denied granting a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to host their IPL 2026 games at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Earlier in January, reports had claimed that the IPL 2025 champions were hesitant to return to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium after the Bengaluru stampede and that they wanted to host their home matches at the Navi Mumbai venue. However, now fresh reports have claimed that MI has denied permission and has asked RCB to exhaust other options.
MI deny permission to RCB to host matches in Navi Mumbai
As per Times of India, a source claimed that MI wanted RCB to explore other options in terms of venue for hosting their IPL 2026 home matches, adding that there are many non-IPL centres in the country. The source said that MI had asked RCB why they wanted only DY Patil stadium as an option and not other places. It is pertinent to note that in order to play at the DY Patil Stadium, RCB is needed to get clearance from Mumbai Indians, whose home ground Wankhede Stadium is not far away.
“If a franchise wants to establish a home base not far from the home of another franchise, it needs clearance to go ahead. It is the same catchment area. Wankhede and DY Patil are not far apart. If a franchise wants to set up a base at DY Patil, it cannot happen without approval from the one operating out of Wankhede. MI reasoned, ‘Why only DY Patil and not any other stadium in the country? There are plenty. MI is of the opinion that RCB must exhaust other options before coming to DY Patil. There are so many non-IPL centres in the country,” a source claimed.
The source pointed out that there were many centres where RCB could host their games such as Vizag, Rajkot, Pune and Indore. Justifying MI’s decision to deny permission to RCB, the source explained that any other side could approach Mumbai Indians in the future seeking to play their IPL matches at the Brabourne Stadium, which is also in close proximity to the Wankhede Stadium.
“There are established centres like Rajkot, Pune, Raipur, Vizag and Indore. The current situation is simple, if MI says yes to DY Patil then tomorrow some other team can come and express desire to host their matches at Brabourne. It kills the sanctity of home territories. And there needs to be a strong reasoning in place why RCB is not ready to play at these centres and only interested in DY Patil,” the source added.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) will learn if the state government will grant them permission to host matches at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Wednesday as a meeting has been called by Home Minister G Parameshwara. Renovations works have taken place based on the recommendations of the Justice Cunha Committee in the aftermath of the Bengaluru stampede. RCB and KSCA have only been granted a conditional permission for hosting games in Benglauru and are pondering over it.
