The 19th season of Indian Premier League officially begins today with defending champions Royal C0hallengers Bengaluru facing Sunrises Hyderabad. 2026 season will open will be at M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru. Both teams are likely to begin the season with a win, in what is expected to be a high scoring match.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru will miss the service of fast bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Yash Dayal. Josh Hazlewood will miss the initial part of the season, while Yash Dayal will sit out for the entire season. Yash Dayal has not played any match since the IPL 2025 final in June and is facing sexual assault charges.
The pace bowling attack of Royal Challengers Bengaluru will largely depend on Bhuvneshwar Kumar to deliver early breakthroughs.
Ishan Kishan will lead Sunrises Hyderabad in the absence of regular captain Pat Cummins during initial phase. Abhishek Sharma will serve as vice captain for Sunrises Hyderabad during the initial phase of the tournament.
Cummins is expected to join Sunrises Hyderabad on March 23 and will lead the side once he regains full fitness. The exact number of matches he will miss is uncertain, though he is likely to continue rehabilitation with the franchise.
Team News
Phil Salt likely to open the batting for Royal Challengers Bengaluru alongside star batter Virat Kohli. Tim David , Romario Shepherd and Jacob Duffy are likely to be the other overseas players.
RCB:- Virat Kohli , Phil Salt , Venkatesh Iyer , Rajat Patidar (c) , Jithesh Sharma (wk) , Krunal Pandya , Tim David , Romario Shepherd , Suyash Sharma , Bhuvneshwar Kumar , Jacob Duffy
Impact Player (RCB):- Mangesh Yadhav.
Sunrises Hyderabad boast an extremely strong batting lineup, but their bowling appears weaker on paper. Travis Head , Heinrich Klaasen , Liam Livingstone and Brydon Carse are likely to be their overseas players.
SRH:- Abhishek Sharma , Travis Head , Ishan Kishan (c & wk) , Nitish Kumar Reddy , Heinrich Klaasen , Liam Livingstone , Harsh Dubey , Shivang Kumar , Brydon Carse , Harshal Patel , Jaydev Unadkat.
Impact Player (SRH):- Salil Arora / Zeeshan Ansari.
Pitch and Weather Report
The pitch at Chinnaswamy is expected to be a batting paradise, with a high scoring match. Weather is expected to be fine for the game.
Time
Match will begin at 07:30 PM , IST.