The launch of the IPL 2026 Fantasy game has inadvertently revealed a major surprise. The upcoming season has been extended to 84 matches, 10 more from the previous season. The IPL 2026 league stage will feature 80 games, with each team to play 7 opponents twice. A full clarification is expected from BCCI alongside the revised IPL 2026 schedule.
"Users joining the IPL Fantasy League Game before Match 1 can make 160 transfers until Match 80 (Total no. of matches - official announcement for now), which is the end of the league stage," the official IPLT20 fantasy game listed in its How to Play section.
The IPL, since the 2022 season, has hosted 70 games in the league stage, with the addition of 4 playoff games. The old format sees teams play 5 teams twice, while facing the other four opponents only once. Thus, each team would play 14 league stage matches, with the top 4 advancing to the playoffs.
This season, that number would increase to 16. It is likely that each franchise will play 7 other franchises twice, with two single headers against the remaining teams. How those fixtures will be decided remains to be seen. BCCI had followed a seeding process for the 14-match league stage.
BCCI had long planned an extension and had hoped to extend the tournament to 84 games in IPL 2025. That was delayed due to scheduling conflicts and the broadcaster Star Sports' reluctance for too many double headers.
This time around, the IPL 2026 has a window for 63 days, allowing for those plans to come into motion. BCCI seriously considers an home and away format of 94-game league stage at some point, but not before 2028.
