The MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, the home venue of the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, are on track to host the opening game of the 2026-27 Big Bash League (BBL) season in December.
There are still some final discussions to be had at government level before the game can be locked in.
CA could potentially buy the game off the host club to take control of the fixture in India. There would also be a knock-on effect to the schedule given the distances involved, and the need to give players enough preparation time beforehand. There are no direct flights from Australia to Chennai but there are from Melbourne to Delhi and Sydney to Bangalore that take 11-12 hours. There are flight paths with one stopover to Chennai that take roughly 13 hours. Then, players also need recovery time on their return home before their next game. Chennai is also prone to flooding in December due to the wet season.
Whether the game is played during the day remains to be seen as day games are better for Australian broadcast windows with IPL day matches starting at 8pm AEST. IPL night matches start at 12am AEST.
In Australian sport, the NRL takes matches to Las Vegas to launch the rugby league season. However, that tournament is played over six months, while the BBL is completed in a seven-week window from mid-December to the end of January.
There are a number of clubs interested in playing in the game. It is understood Thunder and the two Melbourne clubs Stars and Renegades are open to playing in Chennai among others. One club would need to play as the “home” team which would reduce their home fixtures in Australia to just four which has flow-on effects to membership and ticket revenue.
Renegades are already looking at a hybrid home venue model for the upcoming season after their agreement with Marvel Stadium (Docklands) ended earlier this year. They are considering playing at multiple venues including GMHBA Stadium in Geelong, the MCG and the Junction Oval which is the home of Victoria’s high performance centre just south of Melbourne’s CBD. Floodlights are being installed at Junction Oval during the off-season that will be ready to use next summer but the ground only holds a maximum of 6000 people.
