Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) decided to play their IPL 2026 home matches in Navi Mumbai and Raipur amid safety concerns surrounding the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s home matches in the upcoming IPL 2026 will reportedly not be held at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru following the deadly stampede during the team’s victory parade last year. Instead, RCB will play their home fixtures at Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium and Raipur’s Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium next season.
“RCB will play five matches in Navi Mumbai and two in Raipur during IPL 2026. The RCB officials have finalised the arrangement recently after meetings with the concerned officials,” The Times of India quoted a source as saying on Tuesday.
The decision comes in the backdrop of the tragic stampede outside the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4 last year, which claimed 11 lives and left at least 50 people injured during RCB’s IPL title celebrations. Since then, the iconic Bengaluru venue has not hosted any international cricket.
The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has been making efforts to bring top-level cricket back to the stadium and has held several meetings with the state government. However, safety concerns continue to remain a major hurdle.
Last December, the Karnataka government denied permission to the KSCA to host Vijay Hazare Trophy matches at the venue, citing security and crowd-management issues. As a result, those fixtures were shifted to the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence.
Chinnaswamy Marked Unsafe For Public Gathering
A report prepared by Justice John Michael D’Cunha in the aftermath of the incident had described the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium as “highly unsafe” for large public gatherings, further complicating its chances of hosting major events in the near future.
On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals will play their IPL 2026 home matches at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. Last year, IPL chairman Arun Dhumal had hinted at the possibility of the Rajasthan Cricket Association losing hosting rights for RR’s home games after failing to conduct elections on time.
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At the time, the RCA was being run by an ad hoc committee, with two rival factions claiming legitimacy. “We had already communicated to the RCA last year that, in case you are not able to organise these elections, it would be difficult for us to conduct the tournament there,” Dhumal had said after the IPL mini-auction in Abu Dhabi.
With these venue changes, the IPL organisers appear keen to prioritise safety and administrative stability ahead of the 2026 season, especially in the wake of last year’s tragic incident in Bengaluru.
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