TATA IPL Trophy. File picture
| Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji
The 19th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 bash will be played from March 28, with defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru facing Sunrisers Hyderabad at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in the tournament opener, as per the schedule.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru players will train wearing jersey No.11 during match days in the upcoming IPL and the franchise also plans to mark 11 permanent seats in honour of the fans who died in a tragic stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here last year.
With 84 matches scheduled, rather than the usual 74, this IPL will be the biggest season so far.
The playoffs for the IPL are scheduled to begin from May 26 2026, with Bengaluru confirmed to host Qualifier 1 and the final on May 31 2026. Other playoff matches, including the Eliminator and Qualifier 2, are likely to be held in Ahmedabad and Raipur, though the official decision is awaited.
The 10 teams of the Indian Premier League will compete in a ‘double round-robin’ format in which they play each other twice, once away and once at home. Matches will be held across 10 major cities, including Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Raipur.
The most expensive players who got the biggest bids include Cameron Green secured by KKR for Rs 25.20 crore, Matheesha Pathirana for 18 crore by KKR, Kartik Sharma and Prashant Veer by CSK for Rs 14.20 crore respectively, and Liam Livingstone for Rs 12.96 crore by SRH.
Meanwhile, many overseas stars also pulled out of this season’s tournament. Some of them are Ben Duckett, who pulled out of the deal in a bid to save his England Test spot, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, and Mitchell Starc due to fitness issues, and Lockie Ferguson will also miss a few games.
The first-phase fixtures have been announced, and The Hindu has curated each team’s full list of players, support staff, and schedules.
Published – March 26, 2026 11:50 am IST
