NEW DELHI: The stage is set. IPL 2026 is here, and the tournament kicks off with a mouth-watering 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 for the initial phase, with Ishan Kishan stepping in as stand-in captain.
Rajat Patidar, who led RCB to their maiden IPL title in 2025, will continue to lead the side this season.However, RCB will miss the services of key pacers Josh Hazlewood and Yash Dayal, both of whom played crucial roles in last year’s triumph. In their absence, the responsibility with the new ball will fall on Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy and Mangesh Yadav.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, too, boast an explosive batting line-up featuring 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 the 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 favour batters – in short, a batting paradise awaits. A high-scoring contest looks inevitable. The team winning the toss is likely to bowl first, with chasing generally easier at this venue. While no total is ever 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
Rain interruptions are quite common at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium, with passing showers often playing hide and seek during matches. However, the weather for Saturday’s 7:30 PM IST start looks ideal for cricket. Clear skies are expected, with temperatures ranging between 24°C and 28°C during match hours. Humidity will hover around 60%, and a full game without any rain interruptions is likely.
IPL 2026, RCB vs SRH: PREDICTED XIs
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 Deswal, Suyash Sharma, Vicky Ostwal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash 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, Liam Livingstone, Shivam Mavi, Jack Edwards, Brydon Carse, Sakib Hussain, Zeeshan Ansari, Aniket Verma, Amit Kumar, Krains Fuletra
