Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru Match: Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won the toss and elected to field against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the opening match of the Indian Premier League 2026 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, March 28, 2026. RCB captain Rajat Patidar said the team would look to build on last season’s success but approach the new campaign with a fresh mindset. “We'll bowl first. Of course, there are a lot of positives from last year, but as we go into this season, we are not defending, we’ll try to be champions again in 2026. I think there are a lot of good players in the side and we have proper backups for every position. There’s a good support system and medical team as well. So yeah, everyone is fit and looking forward to this game. Thank you so much for supporting us over the years. We’ll try our best to put a second star on our jersey,” Patidar said at the toss.

Patidar also confirmed two debutants in the lineup: Jacob Duffy and Abhinandan Singh.

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Ishan Kishan said his side would have preferred to bowl first but backed his team to adapt to conditions. “Feeling good because it’s our first game. We would have bowled first after winning the toss, but it looks like a fresh wicket. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether you’re batting first or bowling first, you just need to back your instincts. That will be the plan. Just trying to keep things simple. You don’t have to start doing something new just because it’s the IPL. The plans are clear with all the players, and we’ll just look to execute them well. Pat (Cummins) is one of the best bowlers in the team and in the IPL as well. Missing him makes a big difference. But I think everyone is in good touch, and it’s just about executing our plans. If we do that, we’ll be on the winning side. I think Salil (Arora) is one to watch. He’s been in very good touch, and I just want him to keep things simple, watch the ball and play his game,” Kishan said. 

RCB vs SRH Playing XIs

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan(w/c), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga

Impact Substitutes for Both the Teams:

Sunrisers Hyderabad Impact Subs: Shivang Kumar, Liam Livingstone, David Payne, Smaran Ravichandran, Sakib Hussain

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact Subs: Devdutt Padikkal, Jacob Bethell, Rasikh Salam Dar, Kanishk Chouhan, Venkatesh Iyer