Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Virat Kohli, right, and Abhinandan Singh (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak) Abhinandan Singh has emerged as a new name in the Indian Premier League after being introduced to Royal Challengers Bengaluru for the first time in their 2026 season opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.The right-arm pacer from Uttar Pradesh has seen a rapid rise in the game. Four years ago, the tennis ball was playing cricket. He is now part of the RCB XI in one of the biggest matches of the season. The medium-pacer proved impressive in the Uttar Pradesh T20 League, taking 15 wickets in 11 matches while representing Lucknow Falcons.
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RCB’s big changes ahead of IPL: New rules, tribute and squad update Abhinandan had already impressed at the RCB camp before the season. He dismissed Virat Kohli in both the warm-up matches inside the team, putting him in contention for a place in the playing XI.RCB’s pace attack has been affected by several absences. Josh Hazlewood is injured while Yash Dayal has been ruled out for the season. Nuwan Thushara is unavailable as he has not received a NOC. This opened up a spot alongside senior bowlers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jacob Duffy.The match also marked the return of cricket to the venue after a stampede during RCB’s title celebrations last year that resulted in 11 deaths. The players wore black armbands as a mark of respect and trained in No. 11 jerseys before the game.Abhinandan’s selection comes at a time when the team needed a reliable option in their pace unit. His debut marks the beginning of his journey at the IPL level.Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma
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Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (c/c), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga
