27 March,2026 10:45 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Pic: BCCI)
The full league-stage schedule for the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), has been confirmed for the 2026 IPL season. The defending champions will start their campaign at home against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
RCB will play five home games in Bengaluru and its remaining two "home" games at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur due to venue restrictions at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
While the first five home games are at the Chinnaswamy, the matches against the Mumbai Indians (May 10) and KKR (May 13) have been moved to Raipur.
RCB has two afternoon starts (3:30 PM) - one at home against DC on April 18 and one away in Dharamshala on May 17.
The highly anticipated clash against CSK will be early in the season on April 5. The teams will only face each other once in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the clash against the Mumbai Indians is scheduled for April 12 at the Wankhede Stadium and May 10 in Bengaluru.
RCB will be aiming to become only the third side in IPL history to successfully defend their title. Only CSK and MI have achieved the feat in the past.
RCB full schedule for IPL 2026:
Mar 28 (Sat), Sunrisers Hyderabad, Bengaluru,7:30 PM
Apr 05 (Sun), Chennai Super Kings, Bengaluru,7:30 PM
Apr 10 (Fri), Rajasthan Royals, Guwahati,7:30 PM
Apr 12 (Sun), Mumbai Indians, Mumbai,7:30 PM
Apr 15 (Wed), Lucknow Super Giants, Bengaluru,7:30 PM
Apr 18 (Sat), Delhi Capitals, Bengaluru,3:30 PM
Apr 24 (Fri), Gujarat Titans, Bengaluru,7:30 PM
Apr 27 (Mon), Delhi Capitals, Delhi,7:30 PM
Apr 30 (Thu), Gujarat Titans, Ahmedabad,7:30 PM
May 07 (Thu), Lucknow Super Giants, Lucknow,7:30 PM
May 10 (Sun), Mumbai Indians, Raipur,7:30 PM
May 13 (Wed), Kolkata Knight Riders, Raipur,7:30 PM
May 17 (Sun), Punjab Kings, Dharamshala,3:30 PM
May 22 (Fri), Sunrisers Hyderabad, Hyderabad,7:30 PM
Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Jitesh Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Nuwan Thushara, Swapnil Singh, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam, Jacob Duffy, Mangesh Yadav, Jordan Cox, Vicky Ostwal, Abhinandan Singh, Satvik Deswal, Vihaan Malhotra, Kanishk Chouhan.
