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Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Sunrisers Hyderabad
The IPL 2026 will begin with a high-scoring clash between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. RCB will enter as defending champions, while SRH will come in with confidence after winning their only meeting last season. This will be only the second time SRH will feature in an IPL opener since 2017.Β
RCB will be led by Rajat Patidar, while Ishan Kishan will captain SRH as Pat Cummins continues his recovery. Both teams will rely on their retained core despite a few absentees in the opening match. The head-to-head record remains close, with RCB winning 3 of the last 5 matches and SRH winning 2.
The trend will favour teams defending totals, with 4 of the last 5 matches between these sides won while defending. This will play a key role in match strategy at this venue.
ββWith short boundaries at M Chinnaswamy Stadium and both teams packed with power hitters, recent matches here have consistently produced a high number of sixes.
The betting tip is...
Total Sixes - Over 15.5
53 %
47 %
Royal Challengers BengaluruSunrisers HyderabadRoyal Challengers Bengaluru enter the season with a strong core but face an early setback as Josh Hazlewood will miss the opening matches due to injury, having already missed the Ashes and the T20 World Cup. Phil Salt will open alongside Virat Kohli, while Jacob Bethell, Romario Shepherd and Tim David will form the overseas unit.Β
Kohli had scored over 600 runs last season and remains the key batter. Jitesh Sharma finished a few crucial games last year. Salt will be expected to match Kohliβs output and provide strong starts. Tim David and Romario Shepherd will add hitting and finishing strength. Devdutt Padikkal will likely not find a place in the batting unit. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Krunal Pandya will lead the bowling attack along with Yash Dayal.
Kohli, Salt and David are the key batters.
Predicted Lineup: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Venkatesh Iyer, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nuwan Thusara, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma (Impact)
Sunrisers Hyderabad have started the season with a few key absentees. Pat Cummins had missed the opening matches, with Ishan Kishan taking over the captaincy. Eshan Malinga had awaited clearance from Sri Lanka Cricket, while Jack Edwards had been ruled out of the entire season due to a foot injury.
The top order is quite aggressive in their batting approach with Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Kishan. Heinrich Klaasen brings more power to the middle order.
The side has deep batting till number seven with Liam Livingstone and Nitish Kumar Reddy as all-round options. Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat and Brydon Carse will lead the pace attack, while Harsh Dubey and Livingstone will handle spin duties.
Abhishek, Head and Kishn are the key batters.
Predicted Lineup: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (c, wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Liam Livingstone, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Brydon Carse, Harsh Dubey, Zeeshan Ansari (Impact)
This will be a high-scoring game at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium with both teams having strong batting till number seven. The last 3 matches between the two teams have seen 200+ totals batting first, and that trend will continue. Each of the last 3 matches has seen over 15 sixes. The short boundaries will bring plenty of big shots from both sides.
The previous meeting at this venue produced 287 (SRH) vs 262 (RCB) and over 30 sixes, which shows how easily runs come here. With hitters like Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Tim David and Phil Salt, both teams will keep attacking in different phases of the match.
Expect another run-heavy match with a large number of sixes and the team batting first having a slight edge.
