Dharamsala, Mullanpur, Ahmedabad: the IPL 2026 playoff map after Bengaluru loses the final
BCCI has handed the IPL 2026 knockouts to three states and stripped Bengaluru of the season closer. Qualifier 1 goes to the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on May 26. The Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, just outside Chandigarh, gets the Eliminator on May 27 and Qualifier 2 on May 29. The final lands at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on May 31.
The Bengaluru exit is the headline. M Chinnaswamy Stadium had been penned in as the venue for the closer under the standing practice of awarding the final to the defending champions' home city. Royal Challengers Bengaluru lifted the trophy last season, so the assumption was that the Chinnaswamy would close out May 31. The BCCI's statement said the change came after "certain requirements from the local association and authorities that were beyond the scope of BCCI's established guidelines and protocols."
What that explanation actually covers
Reports out of Karnataka have pointed at ticket allocation demands from state MLAs as one of the friction points with the Karnataka State Cricket Association. The KSCA's own line is that it was willing to host but the BCCI moved without formal communication. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia laid out two more reasons in his briefing: late-May logistics and weather around Bengaluru, and the gap in revenue between a Chinnaswamy capped at 35,000 for the season and a 132,000-seat Narendra Modi Stadium. Sunil Gavaskar has come out in support of the board's call.
Dharamsala gets its first playoff
HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala has hosted plenty of league cricket over the years but never an IPL playoff. With a capacity of around 23,000, it is one of the smallest IPL venues in active use, and the late-May Himalayan setting makes Qualifier 1 the most distinctive playoff fixture of the lot. Tickets opened on May 20 for RuPay cardholders, with general sales rolling out on May 21.
Mullanpur back to back
The Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium is on familiar ground. It already hosted Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator last season, when Punjab Kings used it as their home base for the early playoff weekend. The Chandigarh venue now stages two of the three knockouts in successive years, with the format flipped this time so it gets the Eliminator and Qualifier 2 instead of the opener. The pitch tends to favour batting second under lights, and dew is a real factor at this time of the year.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru sit top of the table heading into the last round. A top-two finish hands them the Dharamsala leg before any potential Ahmedabad final. Either way, the Chinnaswamy stays dark on May 31.
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