KOLKATA, MARCH 28,2026: The most awaited IPL(Indian Premier League) starts from today, Saturday, 28 March 2026, at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru at 7:30. The opening match starts with last year’s defending champions RCB (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) vs SRH (Sunrisers Hyderabad). Defending champions RCB are ready for this year with some new players in the squad, led by the winning captain Rajat Patidar.
On the other hand, SRH are led by Ishan Kishan because Pat Cummins will not be available for the first few matches due to his injury. After winning the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy season 2025–2026 as a captain for Jharkhand, Ishan is set to play as a captain for the first time in IPL.
RCB and SRH both teams have played 25-plus matches in IPL; as per the records, SRH got victory 14 times and RCB won 11 times. SRH hold the record for the highest team total in IPL history, scoring 287/3 against RCB on April 15, 2024. After the ODI against New Zealand, people are waiting to watch Virat Kohli play; finally, the waiting will be finished today. Virat and Phil Salt are expected to open for RCB. On the other side, the temporary captain Ishan—how he will lead the team is also an interesting part to watch, and attention will also be on Abhishek and how he will play after a not-so-impressive T20 World Cup.
The squad of RCB: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar, Devdutt Padikkal, Jordan Cox, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Venkatesh Iyer, Swapnil Singh, Satvik Deswal, Mangesh Yedave, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra, Kanish Chohan, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Jacob Duffy, Nuwan Thushara, Abhinandan Singh.
Predicted playing XI for RCB will be: Virat Kohli Phil Salt as openers, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Jacob Duffy.
The squad of SRH: Ishan Kishan, Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Harshal Patel, Liam Livingstone, Pat Cummins, Jaydev Unadkat, Aniket Verma, Smaran Ravichandran, Salil Arora, Kamindu Mendis, Harsh Dubey, Brydon Carse, Shivam Kumar, Krains Fuletra, David Payne, Zeeshan Ansari, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, Onkar Tarmale, Amit Kumar, Praful Hinge, Shivam Mavi.
Predicted playing XI for SRH : Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Liam Livingstone, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshal Patel, Harsh Dubey, Eshan Malinga, Jaydev Unadkat.
The BCCI has cancelled the IPL 2026 opening ceremony as a mark of respect for the 11 fans who died in a stampede during the 2025 RCB victory celebration. RCB and SRH are both ready for beginning the IPL 2026.
