Out comes the entire IPL 2026 league calendar after BCCI’s update on Thursday, March 26. Before that, only twenty games had dates set. Now every single match during the regular phase has its slot confirmed. The plan for playoff rounds? Still coming at a later date
Seven teams face off across fourteen games prior to playoffs. Two digital pools split the field evenly during the league phase. Seventy matchups unfold without physical grouping constraints.
IPL 2026 Groups Structure?
Five squads make up each half of the ten-team lineup. Chennai Super Kings (5) sit alongside Kolkata Knight Riders (3), Rajasthan Royals (1), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (1), plus Punjab Kings in one cluster. The opposite section includes Mumbai Indians (5), matched with Sunrisers Hyderabad (1), Gujarat Titans (1), Delhi Capitals, then Lucknow Super Giants tagged on at the end.
Team One Team Two
Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
Rajasthan Royals vs Gujarat Titans
Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Delhi Capitals
Punjab Kings versus Lucknow Super Giants
Opening day of IPL 2026 lands on March 28, when RCB hosts SRH at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium. Twelve match double-headers are scheduled throughout the tournament, making space for seventy games during the league phase. Some sides cross paths just one time, others clash two times across the calendar. Facing off only once that year: CSK versus RCB, though Chennai meets Mumbai in two separate battles. While certain rivalries stay brief, a few stretch longer by design.
CSK playing RCB once in IPL 2026 due to schedule changes?
One match between CSK and RCB is set during the league phase, even though both sit in the same group. That single clash happens since rivals within a shared group play just one time. Teams from opposing groups, on the other hand, go head-to-head two times instead.
This means CSK faces RCB just one time, that game set for Sunday, April 5 at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Curious about when RCB plays next? Look right here for their complete lineup of matches
RCB kicks off at home versus Chennai Super Kings come April 5, following their match with SRH. Away games shape up next, starting in Guwahati where they meet Rajasthan Royals on the tenth. Then comes a shift to Mumbai, facing Mumbai Indians just two days later on the twelfth.
After that comes a stretch at home – facing Lucknow Super Giants on April 15, followed by Delhi Capitals four days later, then Gujarat Titans on April 24. Next up, travel takes them north to meet Delhi again, this time on April 27. Their road journey continues when they rematch Gujarat on April 30 and wrap it up with another clash against Lucknow, both played outside their own stadium, the last one arriving May 7.
RCB to play two home games in Raipur
Home base shifts for RCB this year – Raipur steps in. Two fixtures there, not one; facing MI comes first on May 10. Next up, KKR arrives on May 13 under those lights. Road stretches follow after that pair. Punjab looms large on May 17. Then Hyderabad closes things out five days later.