Virat Kohli and Ishan Kishan (Image credit: BCCI/IPL) NEW DELHI: The stage is set. IPL 2026 is here and the tournament begins with a thrilling clash between defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and 2016 winners Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.SRH will be without their regular skipper Pat Cummins in the opening phase with Ishan Kishan stepping in as the stand-in captain.
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RCB’s big changes ahead of IPL: New rules, tribute and squad update Rajat Patidar, who led RCB to their first IPL title in 2025, will continue to lead the team this season.However, RCB will be missing the services of key pacers Josh Hazlewood and Yash Dayal, both of whom played a vital role in last year’s triumph. In their absence, the onus will fall on Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy and Mangesh Yadav with the new ball.RCB’s batting, meanwhile, looks formidable on paper. With Virat Kohli at the top, the likes of Phil Salt, Jacob Bethell, Tim David, Venkatesh Iyer and Romario Shepherd add depth and firepower.SRH also boasts of an explosive batting line-up with Travis Head, Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma at the top. Their middle order is equally strong, with Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Liam Livingstone capable of turning a game on its head.The IPL 2026 season will be played across 12 venues in India from March 28 to May 31, including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Dharamsala, Raipur and New Chandigarh.
IPL 2026, RCB vs SRH: PITCH REPORT
The surface at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium is expected to heavily favor batsmen – in short, a batting paradise awaits. The high score competition seems inevitable. The team that wins the toss is likely to bowl first, with the chase generally easier at this point. While no total is truly safe in T20 cricket, anything above 220 should be considered competitive.
IPL 2026, RCB vs SRH: Head-to-Head
Played: 25RCB Won: 11SRH Won: 13No result: 1
IPL 2026, RCB vs SRH: WEATHER UPDATE
The M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru sees quite frequent rain outages, with showers often playing hide-and-seek during matches. However, the weather for Saturday’s 19:30 IST start looks ideal for cricket. Clear skies are expected with temperatures ranging from 24°C to 28°C at match time. Humidity will be around 60% and a full game without rain interruptions is likely.
IPL 2026, RCB vs SRH: PREDICTED XI
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (C), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Mangesh Yadav Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (C/wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Harshal Patel, Liam Livingstone, Zeeshan Ansari, Eshan Malinga, Jaydev Unadkat.
IPL 2026, RCB vs SRH: FULL SQUADS
RCB: Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (C), Devdutt Padikkal, Venkatesh Iyer, Vihaan Malhotra, Kanishk Chouhan, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Jordan Cox, Krunal Pandya, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh, Satwik Sharma Deswal, Kumaryash, O. Suyash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Nuwan Thushara, Rasikh Salam, Jacob Duffy, Mangesh Yadav, Abhinandan SinghSRH: Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Smaran Ravichandran, Abhishek Sharma, Harsh Dubey, Kamindu Mendis, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins (c), Eshan Malinga, Jaydev Unadkat, Harshal Patel, Salil Arora, Praful Hinge, Brdon Carvise, Edward Edward, Brdon Carvise Liam, Living Sakib Hussain, Zeeshan Ansari, Aniket Verma, Amit Kumar, Krains Fultra.
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Which team’s batting line-up do you think is stronger?
