Top News

IPL 2026 Final: Why was the IPL final shifted from Bengaluru? Name of ‘VIP’ revealed

Samira Vishwas | May 9, 2026 10:24 AM CST

Now the big reason behind removing the final and playoff matches of IPL 2026 from M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru has come to light. According to the report, 10057 additional VIP and complimentary tickets demanded by Karnataka State Cricket Association became the major reason for this decision. For this reason, BCCI decided to hold the playoff matches including the final in Ahmedabad, New Chandigarh and Dharamshala.

Actually, as per tradition, Chinnaswamy Stadium, the home ground of the current champion team Royal Challengers Bangalore, was to host the final. But the matter got complicated due to the limited capacity of the stadium and huge demand for VIP tickets.

Final snatched from Bengaluru due to complimentary ticket
According to BCCI sources, Chinnaswamy Stadium has a seating capacity of about 35 thousand spectators. According to the rules, KSCA gets 15 percent of the stadium capacity as complimentary tickets. But this time Karnataka Cricket Association has demanded 10057 additional tickets.

Extra tickets were needed for MLAs
According to the report, about 900 of these passes were sought only for Karnataka MLAs and Legislative Council members. The plan was to give 3-3 free passes to every MLA and MLC. Apart from this, about 750 additional tickets were also required for people associated with the state government and the expert committee.

KSCA had asked for 10 thousand tickets
Not only this, thousands of tickets were also sought at concessional rates for cricket clubs and life members. KSCA had asked for 3007 tickets at a concessional price of Rs 2000 in the P3 stand. There was a demand to keep 900 tickets in the members stand for the families of the members. Apart from this, there was also talk of purchasing 1000 tickets in the M4 stand and reserving 3500 tickets for life members.

After all these demands, only about 20 thousand tickets would be left for common cricket fans. This was the reason why BCCI gave priority to big stadiums for such big matches.

IPL Chairman Arun Dhumal also said that in matches like the final, fans come from all over the world, hence it is important to have more tickets available. For this reason, the final will now be played at Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium. Now the playoff matches of IPL 2026 will be held in Dharamshala and New Chandigarh, while the final will be played in Ahmedabad on May 31.