Mumbai, March 11 -- Nine months after the stampede at M Chinnaswamy stadium that led to the loss of 11 lives, cricket is set to return to the Bengaluru arena with RCB slated to meet Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2026's season opener on March 28. The scheduling is slightly complex this year with three host states set for state assembly elections during this period. As a result, dates of only the first 20 matches of the 74 have been announced. A total of 10 venues - Bengaluru, Mumbai, Guwahati, New Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad - will be hosting matches in the first half of the league. Four of the 16 playing days until April 12 will have double headers. The first double-header will take place on April 4 wh...