The Indian Premier League 2026 final has officially been moved from M. Chinnaswamy Stadium to Narendra Modi Stadium, with playoff matches also relocated outside Karnataka—sparking a major political and sporting controversy.
As per IPL tradition, the defending champions host the final. With Royal Challengers Bengaluru winning the 2025 title, Bengaluru was initially set to stage the summit clash. However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced a venue change, citing “certain requirements from the local association and authorities” that were beyond its established protocols.
The move comes amid a heated row over demands from Karnataka MLAs for complimentary match tickets. Congress MLA Vijayanand Kashappanavar had publicly stated that elected representatives should receive at least five tickets each, calling them “VIPs.” Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar later said MLAs and MPs would be allotted three tickets per match.
Shivakumar, however, dismissed claims linking the controversy to the venue shift. “Ahmedabad has a bigger stadium and can accommodate more people. The decision may have been taken with that in mind. There is no connection between ticket allocation and the shifting of the final,” he said. He also added that similar reservation practices exist elsewhere.
The revised schedule now places Qualifier 1 in Dharamshala, while the Eliminator and Qualifier 2 will be held in New Chandigarh, before the final takes place in Ahmedabad.
The development is particularly notable given Shivakumar’s earlier stance, where he had asserted that matches would not be moved out of Bengaluru, calling Chinnaswamy Stadium “the pride of Karnataka.”
While the BCCI has not disclosed the exact nature of the “requirements” behind the decision, the move has triggered intense debate in Karnataka, raising questions around governance, VIP culture, and the loss of one of cricket’s biggest matches for the city.
