Why Is RCB Playing Against MI in Raipur Instead of Bengaluru?

The Indian Premier League (IPL) allows every team to play half its matches at their home ground and the rest at other teams' grounds. This aims towards local support for the franchise during the IPL matches. However, some teams have used a couple of home grounds in a single season, where some of them use it with the intention to expand fan support, while others have to do it forcefully due to unwanted circumstances. Similarly, we could see that the IPL schedule involves an RCB match at Raipur, which makes fans want to know why RCB playing in Raipur instead of Bengaluru.

Reason Revealed: Why RCB Playing in Raipur?

The cricket fans are always waiting for the big matches like RCB vs MI, but they are curious to know why RCB vs MI in Raipur instead of RCB's home ground in Bengaluru. The reason behind this goes back to when the M Chinnaswamy Stadium was not given a clearance to host any matches; then, KSCA was looking for a second home venue, and then they agreed to play two games in Raipur.

While the RCB Home venue was selected as M. Chinnaswamy after several permissions, the management still kept two home matches at one of the biggest cricket stadiums in India, Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium, New Raipur, by giving respect and honour to the agreement. RCB statement state,

History of IPL in Raipur

The Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium is making a comeback in the IPL in May 2026, as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be using it as a temporary home venue. Earlier, the ground had hosted matches for Delhi Daredevils (Now Delhi Capitals) in the 2013, 2015, and 2016 seasons, staging six games in total.

The venue first featured in the IPL in 2013 when Delhi hosted Pune Warriors on April 28. Its last match before the long break came in May 2016, when Virat Kohli led RCB to a key win over Delhi, boosting their playoff chances.