The BCCI has confirmed a change to the match timetable for the 2026 season of the Indian Premier League. The afternoon clash on April 26, originally slated for Gujarat Titans versus Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, will now be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The start time remains in the afternoon, with the first ball scheduled for 3:30 PM.
With that adjustment in place, the return meeting between the same two franchises—previously planned for the evening of May 21—has been moved to Ahmedabad. The fixture will now take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium, with the match set to begin at 7:30 PM IST.
The board has taken the decision after factoring in the municipal corporation elections expected in Ahmedabad and other parts of Gujarat on April 26, 2026. As a result, the venue swap is intended to avoid scheduling conflicts around that date.
The revised development comes after the IPL 2026 campaign kicked off on March 28. The tournament’s opening match featured defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. By now, 21 matches have been completed in the 19th edition of the T20 league.
When the tournament was first announced, the BCCI had released the timetable for the initial stretch of games because the election schedule in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Assam had not yet been made public. Once those dates were confirmed, the full league-stage schedule was published on March 26—two days ahead of the start of the competition.
For the league stage, the board had earlier detailed the schedule for the first half of the season up to April 12. It then confirmed that the remaining 50 matches will be staged from April 13 to May 24, with games distributed across 12 venues throughout India.
In terms of geography, the second phase will be played in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Dharamshala, Raipur and New Chandigarh. This part of the calendar includes eight double-headers, with afternoon games starting at 3:30 PM IST and evening matches getting underway at 7:30 PM IST.
While the league-stage venues have been mapped out, the BCCI is yet to announce the locations for the playoffs. The final is widely expected to return to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, a venue that hosted the champions’ title celebrations last season after RCB won the trophy.
As the season progresses, the Rajasthan Royals are still positioned at the top of the points table, while three-time title winners Kolkata Knight Riders remain at the bottom.
