The IPL 2026 season gets going on Saturday, March 29, when Royal Challengers Bengaluru host SunRisers Hyderabad at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. It’s a loaded opener for more than one reason RCB walk in as defending champions for the first time, having claimed the 2025 title.
Here’s what you need to know before the first ball is bowled.
No opening ceremony this year
The organisers have scrapped the pre-match ceremony as a tribute to the victims of the victory parade tragedy on June 4, 2025. The match will begin without any fanfare.
Head-to-head: Hyderabad lead, but barely
In 26 previous IPL meetings, SRH have won 13 to RCB’s 11. Two matches produced no result. It’s close enough that neither side has a real psychological edge going in.
Venue, timing and toss
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. Toss at 7:00 PM IST, match starts at 7:30 PM IST.
Where to watch
TV broadcast: Star Sports Network. Live streaming: Jio+Hotstar.
Squads
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Tim David, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Jacob Duffy, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Salam Dar, Venkatesh Iyer, Mangesh Yadav, Vihaan Malhotra, Vicky Ostwal, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Bethell, Jordan Cox, Swapnil Singh, Kanishk Chouhan, Satvik Deswal.
SunRisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (wk/c), Liam Livingstone, Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Harsh Dubey, Eshan Malinga, Shivam Mavi, Smaran Ravichandran, Zeeshan Ansari, Salil Arora, Kamindu Mendis, Brydon Carse, David Payne, Praful Hinge, Sakib Hussain, Krains Fuletra, Amit Kumar.
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