Full IPL 2026 Schedule Coming Soon: The last piece of the puzzle has fallen into place. With India’s assembly election dates now officially declared, the BCCI can finally tell cricket fans what they’ve been waiting weeks to hear.
It’s been a long, winding road to get IPL 2026’s complete fixture list out into the world. West Asia geopolitical tensions, venue disputes, and the looming shadow of state assembly elections had all conspired to keep the full schedule under wraps. But on Sunday, March 15, the Election Commission of India broke the deadlock — and the BCCI can now plan with clarity.
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Assembly Election Dates — The Key to the Full IPL 2026 Schedule
The Election Commission of India announced dates for elections in four states and a union territory, finally clearing the path for the BCCI to release the full IPL 2026 schedule.
| State/UT | Election Date | Counting Date |
|---|---|---|
| Assam | April 9, 2026 | May 4, 2026 |
| Kerala | April 9, 2026 | May 4, 2026 |
| Puducherry | April 9, 2026 | May 4, 2026 |
| Tamil Nadu | April 23, 2026 | May 4, 2026 |
| West Bengal | April 23 & 29, 2026 | May 4, 2026 |
Why These Dates Mattered So Much to the BCCI
This isn’t a trivial administrative detail. Until now, the BCCI had only revealed the schedule for the first 20 matches of IPL 2026, deliberately avoiding venue commitments in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal — where elections were yet to be scheduled.
The reason is straightforward: staging a major cricket event during an active election period in the same city means competing with security deployments, logistics, and the Model Code of Conduct. Both Chepauk in Chennai and Eden Gardens in Kolkata host a sizeable chunk of IPL matches every season — losing either of them to scheduling uncertainty for weeks on end is not something the board could afford.
Now that Tamil Nadu votes on April 23 and West Bengal on April 23 and 29, the BCCI can plan around those blackout windows and slot matches accordingly. For fans in Chennai and Kolkata, that means home games at their beloved venues are still very much on the cards — just carefully timed around the democratic calendar.
IPL 2026 First 20 Matches — Already Confirmed
As far as the existing IPL 2026 schedule is concerned, Bengaluru is expected to host the opening match between RCB and SRH on March 28 — though M Chinnaswamy Stadium is yet to receive a formal green signal from concerned authorities, with an announcement expected on March 16.
| Match | Date | Teams | Venue | Time (IST) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mar 28 | RCB vs SRH | Bengaluru | 7:30 PM |
| 2 | Mar 29 | MI vs KKR | Mumbai | 7:30 PM |
| 3 | Mar 30 | RR vs CSK | Guwahati | 7:30 PM |
| 4 | Mar 31 | PBKS vs GT | Mullanpur | 7:30 PM |
| 5 | Apr 1 | LSG vs DC | Lucknow | 7:30 PM |
| 6 | Apr 2 | KKR vs SRH | Kolkata | 7:30 PM |
| 7 | Apr 3 | CSK vs PBKS | Chennai | 7:30 PM |
| 8 | Apr 4 | DC vs MI | Delhi | 3:30 PM |
| 9 | Apr 4 | GT vs RR | Ahmedabad | 7:30 PM |
| 10 | Apr 5 | SRH vs LSG | Hyderabad | 3:30 PM |
Thirteen days to the first ball. The schedule drama is nearly over. Now, at last, it’s almost time for cricket to do the talking.
For official IPL 2026 updates and fixtures, visit iplt20.com and bcci.tv.
