The Kerala Cricket League returns for its third season from August 20 to September 5, 2026, with all matches at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. Six franchises will battle for the title in Kerala’s premier T20 competition.
Kochi Blue Tigers enter as defending champions after crushing Aries Kollam Sailors by 75 runs in the Season 2 final. The player auction, held on July 11 and streamed live on JioHotstar, has already set the stage for a fierce contest.
In this article, we cover the KCL 2026 schedule, teams, venue, format, and defending champions.
Kerala Cricket League 2026 Overview
The Kerala Cricket League has grown at remarkable speed since its launch in 2024. Season 2 drew 4 crore viewers on Star Sports alone, with another 70 lakh on FanCode and over 1.3 crore on Asianet Plus, numbers that outstripped older leagues like the TNPL and Maharaja Trophy.
The Kerala Cricket Association confirmed the Season 3 dates at a franchise owners’ meeting at its headquarters in June 2026.
The KCA has announced the tournament window of August 20 to September 5, but the match-by-match fixture list has not been released yet, so this article sticks to the officially confirmed dates. The table below captures the key tournament details at a glance.
| Tournament | Details |
|---|---|
| Tournament | Kerala Cricket League (KCL) |
| Season | 3 |
| Dates | August 20 to September 5, 2026 |
| Format | T20, double round-robin and playoffs |
| Teams | 6 |
| Total Matches | 33 (30 league matches plus playoffs, based on the Season 2 structure) |
| Venue | Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram |
| Defending Champions | Kochi Blue Tigers |
| Organiser | Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) |
Kerala Cricket League 2026 Teams
The same six franchises from the first two seasons return for KCL 2026, each representing a major Kerala city. Kollam Sailors and Thrissur Titans retained four players apiece ahead of the July 11 auction, while Kochi Blue Tigers held on to their title-winning captain Saly Samson.
The table below introduces all six teams with their short codes and backstories.
| Franchise Team | Short Code | Historical Context |
|---|---|---|
| Kochi Blue Tigers | KBT | Season 2 champions, captained by Saly Samson and backed by Sanju Samson’s star power |
| Aries Kollam Sailors | AKS | Season 1 champions and Season 2 runners-up, the most consistent side across both editions |
| Calicut Globstars | CG | Season 1 runners-up, built around the retained trio of Salman Nizar, Rohan Kunnummal and Akhil Scaria |
| Adani Trivandrum Royals | ATR | Home-city franchise, retained Krishna Prasad, the leading run-scorer of Season 2 |
| Finesse Thrissur Titans | FTT | Season 2 semi-finalists, retained Ahammed Imran, the second-highest run-getter of Season 2 |
| Alleppey Ripples | ALR | Retained Mohammed Azharuddeen and made Sibin Girish the costliest buy of the 2026 auction at Rs 11.80 lakh |
Kerala Cricket League 2026 Schedule
The KCA has locked in the tournament window, but the ball-by-ball fixture grid is still awaited. Season 3 runs from August 20 to September 5, 2026, a 17-day sprint in Thiruvananthapuram. Once the official match list drops, expect roughly two games a day, as in previous editions.
| Date | Time (IST) | Match | Venue | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Aug (Thu) | 2:30 PM | Calicut Globstars vs Thrissur Titans | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Thrissur Titans won by 7 wickets |
| 7:45 PM | Kochi Blue Tigers vs Aries Kollam Sailors | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Kochi Blue Tigers won by 31 runs | |
| 21 Aug (Fri) | 2:30 PM | Trivandrum Royals vs Alleppey Ripples | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Alleppey Ripples won by 8 wickets |
| 6:45 PM | Calicut Globstars vs Kochi Blue Tigers | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Calicut Globstars won by 3 runs | |
| 22 Aug (Sat) | 2:00 PM | Aries Kollam Sailors vs Trivandrum Royals | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Aries Kollam Sailors won by 11 runs |
| 6:45 PM | Alleppey Ripples vs Thrissur Titans | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Alleppey Ripples won by 10 runs | |
| 23 Aug (Sun) | 2:00 PM | Thrissur Titans vs Kochi Blue Tigers | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Thrissur Titans won by 4 wickets |
| 6:00 PM | Aries Kollam Sailors vs Calicut Globstars | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Calicut Globstars won by 21 runs | |
| 24 Aug (Mon) | 2:30 PM | Calicut Globstars vs Alleppey Ripples | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Calicut Globstars won by 6 wickets |
| 6:45 PM | Trivandrum Royals vs Kochi Blue Tigers | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Trivandrum Royals won by 55 runs | |
| 25 Aug (Tue) | 2:30 PM | Alleppey Ripples vs Aries Kollam Sailors | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Aries Kollam Sailors won by 6 wickets |
| 6:45 PM | Trivandrum Royals vs Thrissur Titans | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Thrissur Titans won by 1 wicket | |
| 26 Aug (Wed) | 2:30 PM | Thrissur Titans vs Aries Kollam Sailors | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | No Result |
| 6:45 PM | Kochi Blue Tigers vs Alleppey Ripples | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Alleppey Ripples won by 74 runs | |
| 27 Aug (Thu) | 2:30 PM | Aries Kollam Sailors vs Kochi Blue Tigers | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Aries Kollam Sailors won by 3 runs |
| 6:45 PM | Calicut Globstars vs Trivandrum Royals | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Trivandrum Royals won by 5 runs | |
| 28 Aug (Fri) | 2:30 PM | Alleppey Ripples vs Calicut Globstars | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Alleppey Ripples won by 6 wickets |
| 6:45 PM | Thrissur Titans vs Trivandrum Royals | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Trivandrum Royals won by 5 runs | |
| 29 Aug (Sat) | 2:30 PM | Thrissur Titans vs Aries Kollam Sailors | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Kochi Blue Tigers won by 1 run |
| 6:45 PM | Alleppey Ripples vs Kochi Blue Tigers | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Alleppey Ripples won by 83 runs | |
| 30 Aug (Sun) | 2:00 PM | Kochi Blue Tigers vs Calicut Globstars | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Calicut Globstars won by 8 wickets |
| 6:00 PM | Trivandrum Royals vs Aries Kollam Sailors | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Trivandrum Royals won by 7 wickets | |
| 31 Aug (Mon) | 2:30 PM | Alleppey Ripples vs Trivandrum Royals | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Trivandrum Royals won by 14 runs |
| 6:45 PM | Thrissur Titans vs Calicut Globstars | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Thrissur Titans won by 4 wickets | |
| 1 Sep (Tue) | 2:30 PM | Aries Kollam Sailors vs Thrissur Titans | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Thrissur Titans won by 4 wickets |
| 6:45 PM | Alleppey Ripples vs Kochi Blue Tigers | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Kochi Blue Tigers won by 69 runs | |
| 2 Sep (Wed) | 2:30 PM | Kochi Blue Tigers vs Trivandrum Royals | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Thrissur Titans won by 4 wickets |
| 6:45 PM | Calicut Globstars vs Aries Kollam Sailors | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Aries Kollam Sailors won by 6 wickets | |
| 3 Sep (Thu) | 2:30 PM | Trivandrum Royals vs Calicut Globstars | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Calicut Globstars won by 7 runs |
| 6:45 PM | Thrissur Titans vs Alleppey Ripples | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Alleppey Ripples won by 3 wickets | |
| 4 Sep (Fri) | 2:30 PM | Semi-final 1 (2nd Place vs 3rd Place) | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Thrissur Titans won by 1 wicket |
| 8:45 PM | Semi-final 2 (1st Place vs 4th Place) | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Calicut Globstars won by 36 runs | |
| 5 Sep (Sat) | 7:00 PM | Final | The Sports Hub, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | Thrissur Titans won by 3 wickets |
Kerala Cricket League 2026 Playoff Schedule
KCL uses a knockout structure after the double round-robin, with the top four sides advancing. In Season 2, Kochi Blue Tigers edged Calicut Globstars by 15 runs in their semi-final, while Kollam Sailors demolished Thrissur Titans by 10 wickets, so the last-four games carry real bite.
| Stage | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Semi-final 1 | Not yet announced | Not yet announced |
| Semi-final 2 | Not yet announced | Not yet announced |
| Final | September 5, 2026 | Not yet announced |
Kerala Cricket League 2026 Venue
Every match of KCL 2026 will be played at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, the same venue that hosted the first two seasons.
The ground has staged international T20s and ODIs and gives the league a genuine big-match feel, with the KCA promising upgraded facilities and security for Season 3.
| Venue | City | Known For or Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Greenfield International Stadium | Thiruvananthapuram | Around 50,000 capacity, Kerala’s premier international cricket venue |
Greenfield International Stadium Pitch Report
The Greenfield surface rewards stroke-play. Season 2 produced 10,978 runs, 622 sixes and 765 fours across 33 matches, with three centuries, so batters clearly enjoy the true bounce on offer.
Chasing under lights has generally been comfortable early in an innings, but spinners come into play as the pitch slows through the middle overs, something Jerin PS exploited with 3/21 in the Season 2 final. Teams batting first who reach 175 or more have tended to control the game here.
Kerala Cricket League 2026 Format
KCL 2026 is expected to follow the structure used in Season 2, with each of the six teams playing the other five twice in a double round-robin before the knockouts.
The playoff format is:
- Top four teams on the points table qualify for the playoffs
- Semi-final 1: 1st place vs 4th place
- Semi-final 2: 2nd place vs 3rd place
- Final: winners of the two semi-finals meet on September 5, 2026
Defending Champions
Kochi Blue Tigers stormed to the Season 2 title in September 2025, beating Aries Kollam Sailors by 75 runs in the final at Greenfield. Vinoop Manoharan smashed 70 off 30 balls to power KBT to 181, before the bowlers skittled the Sailors for 106 in 16.3 overs, with left-arm spinner Jerin PS taking 3/21.
The Tigers have kept their core intact for the title defence, retaining captain Saly Samson for Rs 7.5 lakh and Mohammed Ashiq for Rs 1.5 lakh, then rebuilding around them at the auction with the likes of Basil Thampi and Asif KM. With eight wins from ten league games last season, they start as the team to beat.
Conclusion: All Roads Lead to Greenfield on September 5
The Kerala Cricket League 2026 promises 17 days of high-intensity T20 cricket, running from August 20 to September 5 at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. With squads finalised at the July 11 auction, the six franchises now wait only for the fixture grid.
Kochi Blue Tigers defend their crown against a Kollam Sailors side hungry to reclaim the title they won in 2024, while Calicut, Trivandrum, Thrissur and Alleppey have all recruited aggressively to close the gap.
Keep an eye on the KCL’s official channels for the full match list, and clear your evenings from August 20. Kerala’s biggest cricket carnival is nearly here.