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The Indian Premier League 2026 schedule has undergone a significant change in its timing, especially in the last month of the league stage. Fans that are accustomed to watching two matches on every Saturday have noticed a difference this season. Since the start of the month of May, only one match is being played on Saturdays while two matches are being played on every Sunday.

The IPL 2026 started on March 28 and is expected to end on May 31 with as many as 10 teams battling for glory in the 74 match tournament. Royal Challengers Bengaluru is the defending champion having won the previous title in 2025. While the structure of the tournament remains the same, the scheduling has been changed.

The change in the pattern became evident in May with only one match being played on the first Saturday of May when Chennai Super Kings played against Mumbai Indians at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. On the second Saturday of May too only one match has been scheduled as Rajasthan Royals are set to take on Gujarat Titans at Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur.

A total of 12 double-headers were scheduled in the IPL 2026 schedule. Out of these 12 games, 8 were scheduled in April over Saturdays and Sundays. From May onward, all remaining double-headers were to be played only on Sundays.

This is not the first time such a pattern has been noticed, since IPL 2024 the tournament schedule has seen a slow decrease in the number of Saturday double-headers. The same trend has been carried over into IPL 2025 and now in the IPL 2026 as well. With the increased window for the IPL, the BCCI now have enough time to schedule more matches over days and thus don't require more than one double header per day unlike in the past.

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Though the BCCI has not given any official statement about the reasons of making the change there are a few significant reasons which are being speculated.

The major aspect which might be taken into account is the excessive afternoon heat which is present in almost all Indian cities in May. The first match on the double-header days begin at 3:30 PM and playing in that kind of heat seems difficult for players and the viewers too.

Another reason could be the broadcasting point of view. Evening games at 7:30 PM always achieve higher television and online viewers, the broadcasters also don't seem to want two separate games and rather want one major game on the same day which seems to gain a larger audience for them.

The double headers are still maintained on the Sundays while Saturdays would now have only one night game to be played. Teams would also get an additional day off in the closing part of the league stages as more teams seem to play less games in those stages.

As the league keeps on making progress in every season it seems that changes like these might be a part of their plans for players, broadcasters and their fans in the long term.