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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) can announce the venues for the playoff matches of IPL 2026 in the next two days. Board Secretary Devjit Saikia confirmed this on Saturday. Speaking to the media after the BCCI meeting in Mumbai, Saikia said that the board is currently considering the grounds for the playoffs and finals. However, he refused to clarify whether Bengaluru’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium and Mullanpur’s Maharaja Yadvendra Singh PCA Stadium would get the hosting rights or not.

There has been a tradition in the IPL that the winning team of the previous season gets to host the opening match, Qualifier-2 and the final of the next season, while the runner-up team is given the hosting of Qualifier-1 and Eliminator. If the same pattern is adopted, then IPL 2025 champion Royal Challengers Bangalore may get to host the final, while Mullanpur may get the initial playoff matches.

However, BCCI has not consistently followed this rule in recent years. For example, Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad, who played the final of IPL 2024, did not get any playoff match in 2025. That season Ahmedabad and Mullanpur were given two knockout matches each. Devjit Saikia said, “We are working on the most suitable venue for the IPL playoffs and final. It will take us two more days to take the final decision.”

When he was asked directly about Bengaluru and Mullanpur, he avoided answering and said that the official announcement would be made only after two days. Meanwhile, RCB captain Rajat Patidar has already said that he wants to play the final of IPL 2026 in front of his home crowd. However, this decision is not considered easy because RCB is not playing all its home matches in Chinnaswamy this season. Major security improvements have recently been made to the stadium following the 2025 stampede incident. According to reports, Mullanpur is also not sure of getting a playoff match, because it had already hosted two knockout matches in IPL 2025. Now all eyes are on the final decision of BCCI.