India, March 11 -- Nine months after the tragic stampede at M Chinnaswamy stadium that led to 11 loss of lives, cricket is set to return to the Bengaluru arena with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) slated to meet Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2026's season opener on March 28.

The announcement made by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) though comes with a caveat. Matches in Bengaluru require clearance from the Expert Committee constituted by the Government of Karnataka.

The committee will be conducting a meeting and inspection of the stadium on March 13 "during which a full-scale mock demonstration of match-day arrangements will be carried out to assess the stadium's preparedness for hosting IPL matches," according to a BCCI ...