The Indian Premier League 2026 began on March 28 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, opening a season that will run to May 31 and finish with the final in the same city.
This year’s tournament has 84 league matches and four playoff games, 10 more league fixtures than the usual 74, making IPL 2026 the largest in the competition’s history. For followers tracking the Ipl Points Table, that longer schedule means more opportunities for teams to move, recover and slip in the standings before the playoffs begin on May 26.
Bengaluru has already been confirmed as the host city for Qualifier 1 and the final, both scheduled for May 31. The Eliminator and Qualifier 2 are expected to be staged in Ahmedabad and Raipur, although an official announcement on those venues is still awaited.
The scheduling gives the league a stretched finish, with the final two playoff rounds still without formal host confirmation even as the tournament has already started. That gap leaves the biggest remaining detail on the calendar tied not to the race on the field, but to the last decisions off it.
What is clear is that IPL 2026 will be decided over a longer run than any previous season, with the standings likely to remain live well into the final week before Bengaluru hosts the match that ends it.
