IPL 2026: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Ruturaj Gaikwad won the toss and elected to bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Match 27 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Saturday, April 18,  2026.

CSK made two changes to their lineup, with Mukesh Choudhary replacing the injured Khaleel Ahmed, while Matthew Short came in for Akeal Hosein. SRH also tweaked their combination, bringing in Dilshan Madushanka in place of Harsh Dubey.

Both sides entered the contest with identical records, having won two and lost three matches each, making the clash crucial in the mid-table standings race.

Playing XIs

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI):Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (c), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora (wk), Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivang Kumar, Praful Hinge, Sakib Hussain, Eshan Malinga

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI):Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Dewald Brevis, Jamie Overton, Matthew Short, Anshul Kamboj, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Gurjapneet Singh

Impact Substitutes

Sunrisers Hyderabad Impact Subs:Smaran Ravichandran, Harsh Dubey, Liam Livingstone, Dilshan Madushanka, Harshal Patel

Chennai Super Kings Impact Subs:Ayush Mhatre, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Matt Henry

Pitch Report

The Hyderabad surface is expected to favour batters, with minimal change anticipated across both innings. Teams batting first are likely to target a total in excess of 200.