The Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Gahunje, Pune, is set to host home games of Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, sources have confirmed. The decision comes after Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, the franchise’s regular home base, failed to comply with evacuation safety norms.
As has been the case the last couple of seasons, the Royals will play a few of their home matches in Guwahati as well. The MCA Stadium in Pune acted as a temporary home base for IPL teams in the past. Chennai Super Kings had used the venue in 2018 and went on to lift the title. The Royals will hope for a similar fate.
The MCA Stadium, in the past, was also in touch with Royal Challengers Bengaluru to become their home base in IPL 2026 owing to the controversy surrounding M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The Karnataka State Cricket Association was denied permission to host Vijay Hazare Trophy matches by the state government and police due to safety and security concerns. However, after Venkatesh Prasad became the KSCA president, efforts have been on to bring the matches back to the venue. Talks between MCA and RCB never finalised, allowing the Rajasthan franchise to seal the deal.
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