Bengaluru, March 28: Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have given debuts to pacers Abhinandan Singh and Jacob Duffy as captain Rajat Patidar opted to bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL 2026 opening match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
The match on Saturday also marks the return of competitive cricket to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium for the first time since May 17, 2025, especially after a stampede during RCB's title-winning celebrations on June 4 that claimed 11 lives.
Extensive changes have since been made to the stadium, and RCB players will take the field wearing black armbands as a mark of respect to those who lost their lives last season and wore jersey number '11' during their practice session ahead of the match.
Amidst loud cheers from the RCB-supporting crowd, Patidar said, "It is the season opener, so let's see how the pitch behaves. There were many positives from last season. We are not defending anything; we will win in IPL 2026 as well.
"There are many good players in the team, and the backup players are also excellent. All players are fit, and the medical staff is taking care of them. Thank you so much (to the fans) for supporting us. We will try to win again," he said.
SRH, the 2016 winners, will be led by Ishan Kishan, the franchise's second-youngest captain after Kane Williamson, as regular captain Pat Cummins continues to recover from a lumbar stress injury in the back. Kishan, captaining in the IPL for the first time, also said that Punjab batter Salil Arora will be debuting in the competition.
"Feeling good, and we wanted to field first as well. We want to trust our instincts. You don't have to start something new just because it is the IPL. We just want to execute our plans.
"Obviously, Pat is one of the best bowlers, but everyone looks in good form, and I feel we will be on the winning side. Salil is there (in the playing eleven), and I just want him to keep things simple and trust his instincts," he said.
Playing XIs
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar (captain), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, and Suyash Sharma
Impact Substitutes: Devdutt Padikkal, Jacob Bethell, Rasikh Salam, Kanishk Chouhan, and Venkatesh Iyer
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (captain & wicketkeeper), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, and Eshan Malinga
Impact Substitutes: Shivang Kumar, Liam Livingstone, David Payne, Smaran Ravichandran, and Sakib Hussain
The match on Saturday also marks the return of competitive cricket to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium for the first time since May 17, 2025, especially after a stampede during RCB's title-winning celebrations on June 4 that claimed 11 lives.
Extensive changes have since been made to the stadium, and RCB players will take the field wearing black armbands as a mark of respect to those who lost their lives last season and wore jersey number '11' during their practice session ahead of the match.
Amidst loud cheers from the RCB-supporting crowd, Patidar said, "It is the season opener, so let's see how the pitch behaves. There were many positives from last season. We are not defending anything; we will win in IPL 2026 as well.
"There are many good players in the team, and the backup players are also excellent. All players are fit, and the medical staff is taking care of them. Thank you so much (to the fans) for supporting us. We will try to win again," he said.
SRH, the 2016 winners, will be led by Ishan Kishan, the franchise's second-youngest captain after Kane Williamson, as regular captain Pat Cummins continues to recover from a lumbar stress injury in the back. Kishan, captaining in the IPL for the first time, also said that Punjab batter Salil Arora will be debuting in the competition.
"Feeling good, and we wanted to field first as well. We want to trust our instincts. You don't have to start something new just because it is the IPL. We just want to execute our plans.
"Obviously, Pat is one of the best bowlers, but everyone looks in good form, and I feel we will be on the winning side. Salil is there (in the playing eleven), and I just want him to keep things simple and trust his instincts," he said.
Playing XIs
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar (captain), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, and Suyash Sharma
Impact Substitutes: Devdutt Padikkal, Jacob Bethell, Rasikh Salam, Kanishk Chouhan, and Venkatesh Iyer
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (captain & wicketkeeper), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, and Eshan Malinga
Impact Substitutes: Shivang Kumar, Liam Livingstone, David Payne, Smaran Ravichandran, and Sakib Hussain