Four cities, four teams — and the 15-year-old playing for one of them

Vaibhav Suryavanshi made his Indian Premier League debut for Rajasthan Royals in 2025 — at 14, the youngest player in the tournament's history. A few weeks into his first season he hit a 35-ball century. Youngest IPL centurion ever, by a margin so wide the previous record reads like trivia. He plays out of Jaipur, where the Royals' home ground Sawai Mansingh Stadium sits a kilometre from the Pink City's old gates.

The 2026 playoffs are running this week. Four teams, four cities, one trophy — Royal Challengers Bangalore, Gujarat Titans (playing out of Ahmedabad), Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals. For NRIs flying in to catch a match, here is the quick orientation: where the stadium sits in the city, what to eat between the team bus arrival and the toss, what to see if you have a morning free between innings.

Four cities, four very different India experiences. The order below follows the playoff geography — south to west to centre to north — and ends in Jaipur, where the 15-year-old plays.

Chinnaswamy is one of the few major IPL venues sitting in the actual centre of its host city — MG Road, Cubbon Park, Vidhana Soudha are all within walking distance. Which sounds great until you realise this means every match-day brings central Bangalore to a stop for six hours.

The locals' move: park near Cubbon Park metro station, walk in via the park. If you have time before the match, Vidyarthi Bhavan in Gandhi Bazaar is the city's most serious masala dosa — older than the IPL by 80 years. The queue moves fast, the dosa is unbroken record-grade, the filter coffee finishes the meal.

For the longer Bangalore arc — Indiranagar craft beer, the Karnataka coastal kitchens, Malleshwaram before 9am, ISKCON at dawn — see The NRI Guy · Issue #6, the full city deep-dive.

The Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera seats 132,000 — the largest cricket stadium in the world, comfortably ahead of the MCG. It sits 15 km north of central Ahmedabad in an industrial-flat suburb that has nothing else around it. Plan 90 minutes door-to-stadium on a match day even with the new Ahmedabad Metro Red Line running, more if you're coming from the old city.

The pre-match meal is non-negotiable: Manek Chowk in the old city turns from a jewellery market by day into one of India's great street-food bazaars after 8pm. Pav bhaji, ghotala, chocolate sandwich, kulfi falooda — every vendor stall has been working the same recipe for two generations. Eat standing up, no reservations, cash is faster than UPI here.

If you have a morning free, Sabarmati Ashram on the riverfront is open from 8:30am. The actual rooms Gandhi lived in between 1917 and 1930, the spinning wheel he used, the museum. Free entry, an hour gets you through. Gujarat is dry — bar plans don't apply here, but every major hotel can issue a tourist liquor permit at check-in.

The Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Uppal sits 20 km east of the old city — the longest stadium commute of the four playoff venues. Plan an hour from Banjara Hills, 90 minutes from the Charminar quarter. The Hyderabad Metro Blue Line goes to Nagole; from there it's a 10-minute cab to the gate.

The food anchor in Hyderabad is biryani, and the local consensus is that the best two are not the big chain names. Shadab near Charminar serves a Hyderabadi mutton biryani and a haleem during Ramadan that the city queues for. The chain people know — Paradise Biryani in Secunderabad — is the original outlet from 1953, and it is still solid, but Shadab is the one. Cafe Bahar in Basheerbagh is the high-end version with a quieter dining room.

If you have an afternoon, walk the Charminar quarter. The monument is the photograph, but the surrounding Laad Bazaar is the experience — lacquer bangles, pearls, ittar perfumes, century-old tea shops. Chowmahalla Palace a five-minute walk away is the Nizam's main residence, restored, with the actual ceremonial cars and jewels on display.

Sawai Mansingh Stadium sits in central Jaipur — a kilometre from the Pink City gates, walking distance from MI Road. Smallest capacity of the four playoff venues (~30,000) which makes the atmosphere more intimate. This is where Suryavanshi plays his home games when the Royals are at home, and the Royals' fan section behind long-on is the loudest end of any IPL ground.

Eat the thali. LMB (Laxmi Mishtan Bhandar) in Johari Bazaar has been doing the full Rajasthani vegetarian thali since 1727 — yes, 1727. Dal baati churma, gatte ki sabzi, ker sangri, ghewar for dessert. Pre-match dinner if you can get an early seating, otherwise it works as a heavy lunch the next day. Rawat Mishtan Bhandar at Sindhi Camp is the kachori counter; pyaaz kachori with their thick coriander chutney is the breakfast that ends every other breakfast.

If the match is at night, do Amer Fort at sunrise — the fort opens at 8am but the soft light hits the courtyards at 9:00–9:30. Skip the elephant ride, take the jeep up. After the match, Bar Palladio at Narain Niwas Palace Hotel — the prettiest cocktail bar in north India, indigo-painted walls, jazz on Thursdays.

Tickets: the official outlets are BookMyShow and Paytm Insider. Tickets open roughly two weeks before each match. The popular price bands (₹1,500–4,000) sell out in minutes; premium hospitality (₹15,000+) tends to linger. Resale on Viagogo etc. exists but has burned plenty of NRIs — the bar code is single-use and gate staff scan in real time.

What to bring: a government photo ID matched to the booking name (passport works, OCI card works for booking under your OCI name). Stadium security takes water bottles, food, lighters, power banks. The first sign of monsoon in May means you'll want a small fold-up poncho — Indian stadiums do not refund for rain.

Heat: playoffs are end of May. Bangalore is the only kind one (28–30°C). Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad can touch 42°C even at 8pm. Sunscreen for day games, electrolyte sachets in the bag, water once you're inside (security usually allows the first sealed bottle from the venue shop).

The money tip: stadium concession stands and merchandise tills lean on credit cards now, and they pass through the foreign-card forex spread on your dollar/pound/dirham card — typically 3% on top. Carry an Indian rupee card or pay UPI from your NRO account. On an evening that adds up to a meaningful saving across food, beer, jersey, taxi back.