IPL 2026 dates: Report reveals schedule for upcoming season, final likely on May 31

The 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) will kick off on Thursday, March 26, with the final to be played on Sunday, May 31. Hemang Amin, the interim CEO of BCCI, announced the tournament dates to all ten franchises during a briefing before Tuesday's mini-auction in Abu Dhabi, according to a report by Cricbuzz.

Following the norms, the BCCI convened a meeting with representatives from all ten IPL franchises on Monday, 15 December, one day before the IPL auction. During this meeting, the teams received information about the tentative schedule for the upcoming tournament edition.

The detailed schedule, however, has not been announced yet but is expected to be released shortly.

RCB likely to play opening match

According to the report, defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), are certain to play the opening fixture; however, it is still unclear whether the match will be held at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Traditionally, the first game of the IPL season is hosted at the home ground of the defending champions, but the accessibility of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium has yet to be confirmed.

The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has received conditional approval from the state government to host IPL matches; however, official clearance will be granted once the safety and security arrangements are fully ensured.

Last year, a stampede outside the RCB home ground during the victory celebrations resulted in 11 deaths. Since then, the Chinnaswamy Stadium has not hosted any matches, and even the Women's World Cup games were relocated.

About IPL auction

Regarding the IPL auction, franchises will eye a total of 77 slots, with 31 of these allocated for overseas players. The top reserve price stays at ₹2 crore, and 40 players have chosen to enter the auction within this range.

Cameron Green, David Miller, Devon Conway, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Gus Atkinson, Wanindu Hasaranga, Venkatesh Iyer, and Liam Livingstone are among the players with the highest starting bid in the auction.

Notably, Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis are two of the biggest players who have not signed up for the IPL 2026 auction.

Around 350 players are expected to be a part of the IPL 2026 auction, which will be held at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, December 16. Of these players, 240 are Indian, and 110 are foreign. The auction is set to begin at 2:30 pm IST. In total, 173 cricketers have been retained, including 49 overseas players.