The seek for Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) residence for the IPL 2026 season has taken a dramatic flip. Whereas the defending champions had been initially set to shift 5 of their residence video games to Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium, that possibility is now formally off the desk attributable to an intervention by the Mumbai Indians (MI).
Why Mumbai Indians have stopped RCB from enjoying IPL 2026 video games at DY Patil Stadium?
In keeping with an unique report by the Instances of India, the RCB seek for a brief residence within the IPL 2026 season has hit a serious roadblock in Navi Mumbai. Whereas the franchise was eyeing the DY Patil Stadium as a secondary base, the MI have reportedly stepped in to guard their territorial rights, urging RCB to hunt out various venues throughout the nation.
Mumbai have formally discouraged RCB from using the DY Patil Stadium, citing the league’s established catchment space protocols. In keeping with a supply monitoring the event, MI believes that permitting one other franchise to function so near the Wankhede Stadium would set a harmful precedent. The supply defined to the Instances of India: “If a franchise needs to determine a house base not removed from the house of one other franchise, it wants clearance to go forward. It’s the similar catchment space. Wankhede and DY Patil are usually not far aside. If a franchise needs to arrange a base at DY Patil, it can not occur with out approval from the one working out of Wankhede.”
The Mumbai-based franchise has taken a agency stance that the sanctity of residence territories should be maintained to forestall a “free-for-all” sooner or later. The supply additional elaborated on MI’s reasoning, stating: “MI is of the opinion that RCB should exhaust different choices earlier than coming to DY Patil. There are such a lot of non-IPL centres within the nation. There are established centres like Rajkot, Pune, Raipur, Vizag and Indore. The present state of affairs is straightforward, if MI says sure to DY Patil then tomorrow another workforce can come and categorical need to host their matches at Brabourne. It kills the sanctity of residence territories. And there must be a robust reasoning in place why RCB just isn’t able to play at these centres and solely enthusiastic about DY Patil.”
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IPL 2026: Raipur and Indore emerge as main alternate options amidst Chinnaswamy uncertainty
With the Navi Mumbai possibility now successfully off the desk, RCB have intensified negotiations with different state associations to finalize their 2026 itinerary. The franchise has already made important progress in Chhattisgarh, with the Instances of India reporting that: “RCB have already had detailed conversations with the Chhattisgarh authorities about internet hosting at the very least two of their residence matches in Raipur within the 2026 version.” Consequently, with the DY Patil Stadium now not a viable candidate, Indore’s Holkar Stadium has seen a resurgence in curiosity for the remaining 5 residence fixtures.
A supply to Instances of India confirmed this shift, noting: “There have been discussions when DY Patil was within the race too, however now that it’s now not there, Indore is again within the combine.” In the meantime, the destiny of the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium stays within the fingers of the Karnataka authorities following the tragic stampede in June 2025.
Whereas the KSCA is engaged on the Justice D’Cunha committee’s 17 suggestions, the choice hinges on a high-level security inspection. Karnataka Residence Minister G Parameshwara clarified the federal government’s cautious place, stating: “On the Wednesday assembly, senior authorities, police and regulation officers will focus on what might be finished on the authorities degree and the directions to be given to the KSCA. The extent of redressal of points flagged by the Justice D’Cunha committee must be thought-about. We’d like the CM’s approval.”
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