The whole of India is still in the hangover of the historic 2026 T20 World Cup title win. However, as the famous saying goes 'the show must go on' and the cricket calendar is always jam-packed. The 2026 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is the next major sporting event in the international calendar and is expected to start at the fag end of March.
Due to state elections in Assam, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, the IPL's Governing Council (GC) hasn't announced the schedule yet. However, there have been talks of the schedule being released in two phases, because the election dates have not been made public yet. Initially, the plan was to announce the full schedule in one go after the dates had been released.
Now, the latest speculation is that IPL 2026 could be postponed in its entirety. The major reason behind this is not the impending elections but the rising situation in the Middle East and the alarming rise in LPG gas shortage across India. The situation is looking ominous at the moment and sources say that the IPL GC is keeping a tab on the situation.
If these reports are true, this might be the reason for the delay in announcement of the IPL 2026 schedule. The fixtures for the first two weeks should have been out by last Saturday (March 7) at the most but there hasn't been any movement from the IPL GC or the Board of Control for Cricket in India just yet.
Meanwhile, another section of sources are insisting that the delay is due to the election dates and that a decision will be made this week itself. Remember, less than two weeks remain for the alleged start of IPL 2026 and we still don't have any update on the major cities for the first two weeks.
An official update from the BCCI or IPL GC is expected this week. Until then, speculations will continue to brew.
