The opening match of the Big Bash League will be played in India, the Prime Minister of Australia has announced

Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL) will begin its 2026-27 season in India, with the opening match to be played in Chennai in December, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Friday. The Albanian made the announcement alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the final day of his three-day visit to Australia, describing it as part of the expanding sporting relationship between the two countries.

The match will be the first official match of a foreign domestic cricket league to be held in India. It will also serve as the focal point of a week-long Australian cultural festival that will be held across India in December.

Wonderful to visit the Melbourne Cricket Ground with PM Albanes. The passion for sports continues to bring the people of India and Australia together.@AlboMP https://t.co/4agouUbx69— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 10, 2026

The BBL is one of the world’s premier T20 franchise competitions and the decision to host it season opener in Chennai will mark the first official BBL match to be played outside Australia. While India has hosted international cricket and the Indian Premier League, no overseas domestic cricket league has ever officially held its own in the country before.

More details, including the participating teams, venue and schedule of the cultural festival, are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Cricket Australia later confirmed the Melbourne Renegades and Perth Scorchers will feature in the season opener, with the match part of a wider effort to expand the league’s presence in one of the world’s biggest cricket markets.

The BBL is already broadcast in India under a media rights deal with JioStar that runs until 2030. Cricket Australia has also explored the possibility of attracting outside investment from the region as part of wider discussions about the competition’s future.

Alistair Dobson, executive general manager of the Big Bash Leagues, said the aim of the overseas competition was to introduce the BBL to a new audience.

“The popularity of the BBL extends far beyond our shores,” Dobson told AFR Weekend.

“Continuing to build our game in new markets and connect with fans in truly powerful ways is about the long-term growth of our league. This is reflected in the value of our media rights, the opportunity for sponsors to connect with a larger and growing audience and uncovering new opportunities for our players and our clubs.”

The match will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai and is supported by the Australian Government and the Center for Australia-India Relations, which will organize a series of cultural events around the match, including film and art festivals.

Commercial details, including ticketing and travel packages for fans, have yet to be finalised. Dobson said the event will also help boost tourism and trade ties between the two countries while bringing the BBL experience to Indian fans.

“We would also like to see BBL fans from all over India travel to Chennai for the match,” he said.

“We want to fill the stadium and we want it to be a real BBL experience with lots of people and colour, noise and music and great cricket. We think it will be quite historic.”

The match in Chennai is planned as a one-off event and has the backing of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which runs the Indian Premier League, one of the world’s richest sporting competitions.

Overseas match scheduling has been going on alongside discussions about the possible sale of BBL clubs to private investors, although the two matters are unrelated. Privatization talks remain on hold amid differences between state associations over how they should be invested in Australian cricket.

The Melbourne Renegades, one of two teams operated by Cricket Victoria, could be sold to outside investors if the state association approves the plans. Sources close to Cricket Victoria had earlier indicated that Indian Premier League franchise owners were interested.

Dobson was joined on Friday by AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon. The AFL, which has only had two players of Indian heritage drafted in its history, recently unveiled a strategy aimed at increasing participation among players of Indian heritage and strengthening engagement with the Indian community in Australia.

– The end

Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

10 Jul 2026 07:58 IST