The Big Bash League will begin outside Australia for the first time this summer, with the Melbourne Renegades and Perth Scorchers to launch the 2026-27 season in Chennai before the competition returns home for a full schedule of nightly matches through the school holidays.
Cricket Australia on Tuesday unveiled the KFC BBL|16 fixture, with the opening match set for December 12 at Chennai’s M. A. Chidambaram Stadium. The first game on Australian soil will follow three days later when the Brisbane Heat host the Sydney Sixers at the Gabba.
The schedule includes uninterrupted nightly cricket from December 15 to January 17, apart from Christmas Day, six television double headers, the return of a Christmas Eve fixture at Melbourne’s Junction Oval and an Australia Day final on January 26.
Cricket Australia’s Executive General Manager of Big Bash Leagues, Alistair Dobson, said the fixture had been designed around the competition’s strongest traditions while introducing new elements.
“The KFC BBL|16 season is shaping up to have everything we love about the Big Bash – great players, full stadiums of fans and the best nights of entertainment anywhere this summer,” he said.
Dobson said the uninterrupted run of matches and marquee fixtures would keep the competition “the heartbeat of summer”, adding that Cricket Australia was “hugely excited by the opportunity to open the season in Chennai” and to bring back Christmas Eve cricket under lights at Junction Oval.
He said the league would also introduce its new Designated Batter and Fielder rule this season, saying the change would give teams more strategic options and create new dynamics for supporters.
The move to stage the opening match in India marks a milestone for the competition as Cricket Australia continues to expand the Big Bash’s international reach. Chennai, one of India’s major cricket centres and home to the Indian Premier League’s Chennai Super Kings, will host the first BBL fixture ever played outside Australia.
Traditional rivalry matches remain central to the fixture. The Sydney Smash between the Sixers and Thunder will be played on December 19, while the Boxing Day double header returns with the Sixers meeting the Heat at the SCG before the Perth Scorchers take on the Melbourne Stars at Optus Stadium.
The Adelaide Strikers will host the Stars on New Year’s Eve, followed by a New Year’s Day double header featuring the Renegades against the Sixers at the MCG and the Heat against the Hobart Hurricanes in Brisbane. Melbourne’s two clubs will meet in their derby at the MCG on January 4.
The finals series begins on January 19 before concluding with the championship decider on Australia Day, with hosting rights to be determined by regular season results.
The Seven Network will continue as the league’s free-to-air broadcaster, showing all 30 regular season matches and every final live, while Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports will broadcast every match, with 10 fixtures exclusive to Fox Cricket.
Seven Network’s Head of Cricket, Joel Starcevic, said the broadcaster was looking forward to televising “the first ever BBL match played outside of Australia in what will be a historic moment for the competition”. He said the network expected another strong season after recent growth in television audiences and attendances.
Fox Sports Executive Producer Joe Bromham said the BBL remained one of the highlights of Australia’s cricket calendar, adding that fans increasingly wanted access to every match across all competitions. “The only place to watch every ball, live and ad-break free during play is Fox Cricket, available on Kayo SPORTS,” he said.
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