No IPL 2026 Playoffs at Chinnaswamy? BCCI Secretary gives clarity on venues and release date

The BCCI is close to finalising the venues for the IPL 2026 playoffs and the final, with secretary Devjit Saikia confirming on Saturday that an announcement is expected within the next couple of days.

Speaking to reporters, Saikia said the board is still evaluating which grounds are the most appropriate for the knockout stage of the tournament. "We are working on what could be the appropriate venue for the IPL playoffs and the final. So we will take another two days' time," he said.

Will Mullanpur and Bengaluru host the IPL 2026 playoffs? BCCI reveals

The obvious assumption heading into this announcement was that Mullanpur and Bengaluru would host the playoff matches by virtue of Punjab Kings and RCB being last year's finalists and runners-up respectively.

But when asked directly whether those two venues had been confirmed, Saikia was deliberately evasive. "You can keep guessing but I am not going to give you a reply. We will take a call in two days' time," he said, a response that has fuelled significant speculation that the conventional allocation may not apply this year.

There is specific discussion around Mullanpur in particular, which hosted Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator in IPL 2025 but only because those matches were shifted from Hyderabad due to logistical and weather-related factors after Sunrisers Hyderabad reached the final.

The argument being made within cricketing circles is that Mullanpur effectively used up its hosting opportunity last year under those emergency circumstances rather than earning it as a designated playoff venue.

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The disruption of IPL 2025 that complicates everything

The IPL 2025 playoff picture was significantly disrupted by Operation Sindoor. Eden Gardens in Kolkata was originally scheduled to host the final but the match had to be moved to the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, which also hosted Qualifier 2 under those emergency conditions.

The cascading effect of those shifts means the conventional rotation of playoff venues has been somewhat scrambled and the BCCI is now working through which grounds are owed hosting rights in the proper sense and which ones stepped in as emergency alternatives.

That context is why Saikia is being careful not to commit to any specific venue publicly before the full picture has been worked through internally.

The provisional IPL 2026 Playoff schedule

While the official playoff schedule has not yet been released, the BCCI has confirmed that the IPL 2026 season will conclude on May 31. Based on that endpoint, the provisional schedule for the knockout stage is expected to run as follows, Qualifier 1 on May 26, the Eliminator on May 27, Qualifier 2 on May 29 and the final on May 31.

Both Punjab Kings and RCB are currently well-placed to qualify again this year, PBKS lead the table with 13 points from eight games while RCB sit second with 12 points from nine, which means the question of which venues get to host these teams in the final fortnight of the season is one that is being watched very closely by franchise management and fans alike.

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