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IPL 2026 Dates Announced: Tournament to Begin on March 26, Final on May 31
IPL 2026 Dates Confirmed: Ahead of the IPL 2026 mini-auction, the tournament dates have been confirmed. The 19th season of the IPL will begin on March 26th, with the final match on the 31st. However, uncertainty remains over whether matches will be played at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
The mini-auction for the Indian Premier League 2026 is scheduled to be held in Abu Dhabi on December 16th. Before this news came to light, the schedules for the 19th season of the IPL were also announced. The league will start from Thursday, March 26th, and will conclude with its final match on Sunday, May 31st. This came to fruition following a meeting between the IPL teams and officials from Abu Dhabi on Monday. It is yet to be decided whether the matches will occur at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
The schedule of the IPL Season 19 was unveiled by the CEO of the league, Hemang Amin, in a press meet before the auction on Tuesday. As per the league rules, the opening match takes place in the city of the defending champions, although the status of the Chinnaswamy Stadium is still in doubt. However, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has received conditional approval from the state government to host IPL matches at the venue.
Regarding the possibility of matches being played at Chinnaswamy, a top BCCI official stated, "We are hopeful." State Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has also stated the same. The Chief Minister was recently quoted as saying, "We have made a decision regarding IPL matches. We are positive. We have asked our Home Minister, G. Parameshwara, to hold a meeting with KSCA officials. Parameshwara will discuss the matter with the cricket association."
Indeed, a stampede at Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4th during RCB's victory celebrations resulted in the death of 11 people and injuries to several fans. Since then, the state government has consistently refused to allow cricket matches at this venue. The BCCI also had to relocate the Women's World Cup matches to another city.
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The BCCI has confirmed the inclusion of Abhimanyu Easwaran in the auction register. He is one of 19 new players added to the final list, which will be shared with IPL franchises ahead of the auction at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. Easwaran's name is number 360 on the list. The total number of players on the auction register has now increased to 369.
