IPL 2026 to be held from March 26 to May 31: Report

Mumbai, Dec 15 The 2026 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held from March 26 to May 31, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) informed the franchises, a report claimed on Monday.

The IPL franchises were informed about the dates by Hemang Amin, the league's CDO, during a briefing ahead of Tuesday's auction in Abu Dhabi, Cricbuzz said in a report.

The 19th edition of India's domestic T20 franchise will start on March 26 with defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) opening their campaign. However, whether they will play their home matches at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium is not clear yet. The stadium's availability is in question because of the horrific stampede in Bengaluru during RCB's celebration of their maiden IPL title a few months back.

The report claimed that while the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has received a conditional clearance from the state government to host IPL games at the venue, it is subject to meeting stipulated safety and security requirements.

Meanwhile, the BCCI on Monday night finalised the player pool by adding 19 players late on the eve of the auction for the 2026 edition of IPL in Abu Dhabi.

The late additions included Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ben Sears of New Zealand, and Ethan Bosch of South Africa.

The spotlight will be on the likes of Cameron Green, Liam Livingstone, and Ravi Bishnoi as ten franchises gear up for the IPL 2026 auction, set to take place at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. It will mark the third straight time of an IPL auction happening outside India after Dubai (2024) and Jeddah (2025).

All ten teams are expected to loosen their purse strings in pursuit of marquee talent and have a squad that can win the IPL 2026 trophy. A total of 77 slots are available, including 31 for overseas players. Three-time winners Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have the most vacancies with 13, followed by 2016 champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) with ten.

From a longlist of 1,355 players, 359 have been shortlisted – 244 Indian and 115 overseas. Forty players have entered at the maximum base price of Rs 2 crore, with Bishnoi and Venkatesh Iyer the only Indians in that group.

Green, Australia’s seam-bowling all-rounder, is expected to be the biggest draw, thanks to the skewed demand-supply ratio in a mini IPL auction, with bids for him projected to cross Rs 25 crore.

Apart from Bishnoi and Green, the England duo of Liam Livingstone and Jamie Smith, along with NZ pacer Matt Henry, keeper-batter Tim Seifert, and South Africa batter David Miller, are also likely to attract strong interest from all ten teams, as is Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana, who was let go of by Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

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