The schedule of the second phase of the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was released on Thursday (26 March). The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had earlier released the schedule till April 12 only. 20 matches were to be played between 28 March and 12 April. After the announcement of the dates of assembly elections to be held in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Assam, now the schedule of the entire league stage has come. In the second phase, a total of 50 matches will be played at 12 venues in the country between April 13 and May 24. The date and venue of the playoff will be announced later.
The two most successful teams in IPL history, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will face each other twice in the league stage. MI also has to face defending champions Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) twice. Whereas CSK and RCB will clash only once. In the last two seasons, these two teams had clashed twice each. But this time only one match will be played between CSK-RCB.
Also read: Team India’s home schedule released, international match to be held in M Chinnaswamy also
Why will CSK-RCB clash only once?
The recent matches between CSK and RCB have been high-voltage. In such a situation, having only one match between the two teams may disappoint the fans a bit. This has happened due to a change in the formula of IPL. Actually, under the old formula, the teams have been divided into two groups on the basis of the number of titles. CSK (5), Kolkata Knight Riders (3), Rajasthan Royals (1), RCB (1) and Punjab Kings have been placed in Group A. Whereas in Group B, MI (5), Sunrisers Hyderabad (1), Gujarat Titans (1), Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants have got places.
For the last three years, the teams living in one group used to face each other twice and each team of the other group once, but this format has been changed for IPL 2026. Now the teams of one group will face each other once and the teams of the other group will face each other twice. For this reason, CSK and RCB will clash only once, because both are in the same group.
Also read: 18 seasons, 8 teams became champions, CSK-MI was the most successful… See IPL winner list
When is CSK vs RCB match?
The high-voltage match between CSK and RCB in IPL 2026 will be played on April 5 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Although CSK has a good record against RCB but it has not been able to defeat this team in the last three matches. Whereas in M Chinnaswamy, CSK has faced defeat in two consecutive matches at the hands of RCB. In such a situation, there will be additional pressure on CSK this time.
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