In a big relief for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), the state government has granted approval for the M Chinnaswamy stadium to host IPL 2026 matches. The decision was taken during the cabinet meeting where the matter was extensively discussed. The venue in Bengaluru has not hosted a single game since the stampede earlier in June following RCB’s maiden IPL title win which left 11 dead and several injured.
Karnataka govt gives green light for Bengaluru to host IPL 2026 gams
As per news agency PTI, the Karnataka cabinet has granted permission for the M Chinnaswamy stadium to resume hosting matches. However, the government has mandated that the safety and security norms as recommended by the Justice Cunha Commission must be followed to the T. On Wednesday, Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar had met new KSCA president Venkatesh Prasad and had promised that the matter would be discussed in the cabinet meeting on Thursday, adding that the state had no plans to move cricket out of Bengaluru.
“They (KSCA) have sought permission to hold matches in Bengaluru, and we have assured them the matter will be decided at the cabinet meeting on Thursday. We have no intention of stopping cricket matches, but crowd management needs regulation,” DK Shivakumar had said.
Earlier, the Justice John Michael Cunha Commission, which probed the Bengaluru stampede, had declared the M Chinnaswamy stadium unfit to host big events. The commission’s report claimed that the Chinnaswamy stadium’s “design and structure” are inherently “unsuitable and unsafe” for mass gatherings. It stated that hosting any mass events in the future would be an unacceptable risk to public safety.
Following the report, Women’s Cricket World Cup matches were moved out of Bengaluru. No domestic games were held at the M Chinnaswamy stadium either, with the Maharaja Trophy games being shifted to Mysuru. Bengaluru hasn’t been listed as a venue for the T20 World Cup 2026 either. However, with the Karnataka government clearing the deck, the KSCA will be hoping to convince the BCCI to host at least a couple of games before the IPL.
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