Background
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). It has been held annually since the first edition in 2008. Royal Challengers Bengaluru were the defending champions, having won their maiden title in the previous season after defeating Punjab Kings in the final.
Each team played once against the teams in their group and twice against the teams in the other group. After the group stage, the top four teams, based on aggregate points, advanced to the playoffs. In this stage, the top two teams competed with each other (in a match titled "Qualifier 1"), as did the remaining two teams (in a match titled "Eliminator"). While the winner of the Qualifier 1 directly qualified for the final match, the losing team had another chance to qualify for the final match by competing against the winning team of the Eliminator (in a match titled "Qualifier 2"). The winner of this subsequent Qualifier 2 advanced to the final match. Teams were seeded into groups based on the number of titles they had won.
The IPL Governing Council had initially announced that the IPL would expand to 84 matches for 2026 and 2027, with it expected to expand to 94 matches from 2028 onwards with the return of the complete double round-robin format that was used until 2021. However, the number of matches was kept as 74 for one more edition as it was in the previous four seasons.
Schedule
According to ESPNcricinfo, the dates of the tournament window for the three seasons between 2025 and 2027 were sent to franchises ahead of the 2025 auction. In November 2024, the tentative dates for the three seasons were announced, with the 2026 edition set to take place from 15 March to 31 May. In December 2025, it was announced that the 2026 season would commence on 26 March to allow for a three-week gap after the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup final scheduled to take place on 8 March. In February 2026, it was announced that the 2026 season would commence 2 days later on 28 March. This led to a clash with the 2026 Pakistan Super League for the second consecutive year taking place from 26 March to 3 May 2026, which was again moved from its typical February–March window for the same reason.
In March 2026, it was announced that the fixtures for that season would be announced in two parts due to the state assembly elections in Assam, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal; for which the dates were not announced till 15 March. The first part of the schedule comprising the first twenty matches was announced on 11 March, with the inaugural match being hosted at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium between the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad on 28 March. The complete fixtures for the league stage were announced on 26 March. On 6 May the playoff fixtures were confirmed with the Qualifier 1 at HPCA Cricket Stadium on 26 May, the Eliminator and Qualifier 2 at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium on 27 and 29 May, and the final at Narendra Modi Stadium on 31 May, with the venue hosting its fourth final after 2022, 2023 and 2025.
Exclusion of Mustafizur Rahman
Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for ₹9.2 crore (US$960,000) in the auction. Following anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh during 2025 and the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das in December 2025, there were calls for the exclusion of Bangladeshi players from the IPL. In January 2026, the BCCI requested that the franchise release Rahman from the squad and permitted them to select a replacement player. This move was criticized by former Indian cricketer Madan Lal, Congress politician Shashi Tharoor, and former Bangladeshi captains Khaled Mahmud and Mohammad Ashraful while former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra and BJP politician Sangeet Singh Som defended the BCCI's move.
This led the BCCI to put the Indian tour of Bangladesh on hold due to tensions. Furthermore, the Bangladesh Cricket Board requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) to shift their matches at the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup which was to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, out of India, similar to that of Pakistan's. But the request was rejected by the ICC, and Bangladesh ultimately withdrew from the T20 World Cup. The Bangladeshi government also banned the broadcast of IPL in their country. Following the 2026 Bangladeshi general election, the newly elected government clarified that the broadcast of the IPL is not banned in their country anymore.
Broadcasting
JioStar's Star Sports and JioHotstar, held the television and digital rights respectively, for the remainder of the 2023–2027 cycle. In the opening weekend of the season which included two matches, linear television reported 7.84 million viewership, with an 18.8% drop in the average television viewership rating compared to last season, while JioHotstar reported 515 million viewership, with a 26% increase in total watch time to 32.6 billion minutes.
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