Guwahati, April 10. The Rajasthan Royals (RR) won the toss and chose to bowl against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Match 16 of the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Baraspara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Friday.
The Rajasthan Royals made a change to their starting XI, with Brijesh Sharma replacing Tushar Deshpande, while the Royal Challengers Bengaluru strengthened their pace attack by bringing back Josh Hazlewood in place of Jacob Duffy, adding experience and control to their bowling lineup.
Riyan Parag said that the pitch was expected to be dry, but rain could leave early moisture, while emphasizing that his team has been clinical and focused on playing strategic cricket as planned before the tournament. Parag also noted that he is content with having less to do personally as long as the openers continue their strong form at the top.
"We are going to be bowling first. It was supposed to be a dry wicket, but it has been raining, and there will be some moisture on this pitch. We would like to get the most out of the pitch," said RR captain Parag.
Rajat Patidar said that the strong crowd support is making it feel like a home game for his team, while confirming that Duffy has missed out with Josh Hazlewood coming into the lineup, describing him as an experienced addition. However, just as he spoke, rain returned to interrupt proceedings, halting momentum after it seemed the weather had cleared.
"This is the first away game. Thanks to everyone. You are making us feel that it is a home crowd. We all love you. Unfortunately, Duffy misses out on this game. Josh Hazlewood is in the team in place of Duffy. Duffy also bowled brilliantly in the last two games. We know Josh is an experienced player. His presence will definitely put us in a good frame of mind," said RCB captain Patidar.
Starting XIs:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Josh Hazlewood
Impact substitute: Jacob Bethell, Rasikh Salam, Suyash Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, Kanishk Chouhan
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Brijesh Sharma
Impact substitute: Shubham Dubey, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Tushar Deshpande, Ravi Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi