RCB's home‑ground milestone

Royal Challengers Bengaluru became the first Indian Premier League team to play 100 home matches at one venue when they hosted Delhi Capitals at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 18. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) The landmark game came in RCB’s fifth Bengaluru fixture of the 2026 season, with the franchise scheduled to play only five league matches at Chinnaswamy and two more designated home games in Raipur. (royalchallengers.com, ipl.com) RCB’s 100th home match also fell on the IPL’s 19th anniversary, and Indian Express reported that Kolkata Knight Riders were next on the list with 98 matches at Eden Gardens, ahead of Mumbai Indians at Wankhede. (indianexpress.com, news18.com) A run of 100 matches at one stadium is not just a trivia mark. It means the same franchise, venue operator, police, caterers and sponsors have repeated the same matchday exercise often enough to turn one-off plans into standard routines. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) That continuity shows up in practical details: crowd entry and exit routes, hospitality setup, media operations, dressing-room use and where sponsor signage can be sold and installed without redesigning the bowl every season. The Karnataka State Cricket Association says the ground has permanent seating, dedicated media facilities and established player areas. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com, ksca.cricket) The 2026 season gave that continuity extra weight because RCB’s return to Chinnaswamy was not automatic. The club said on March 3 that it had secured approval to host five matches in Bengaluru after coordination with the Karnataka government, the Karnataka State Cricket Association and police. (royalchallengers.com) That clearance followed the June 2025 stampede linked to RCB’s title celebrations, after which high-profile cricket at the venue was paused. NDTV reported before the season that the stadium had not hosted a major match since 11 people died in that crush. (sports.ndtv.com, sportstar.thehindu.com) Chinnaswamy remains one of Indian cricket’s most used urban venues. The Karnataka State Cricket Association says the stadium seats about 32,000 and has hosted 25 Tests, 31 One Day Internationals and 10 Twenty20 Internationals, along with domestic cricket. (ksca.cricket) For RCB, the 100th match is a marker of how tightly a franchise can be tied to one ground over 19 IPL seasons, even in a year when part of its home schedule had to move out of Bengaluru. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com, royalchallengers.com)