IPL 2026: RCB win toss; opts to bowl against SRH in tournament opener

BENGALURU: Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won the toss and decided to field against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the tournament opener at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.

At 27 years and 253 days, Ishan Kishan, who is the stand-in captain of Sunrisers, became franchises’ second-youngest skipper, behind Kane Williamson (27y, 244d) in 2018. After winning the toss, RCB skipper Rajat Patidar said they will try their best to put a second star on the jersey.

Rajat Patidar Ishan Kishan

Are you ready for a blockbuster #TATAIPL 2026 opener? #KhelBindaas | #RCBvSRH pic.twitter.com/jRpfldwsSi

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“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. There are two new faces – Jacob Duffy and Abhinandan Singh, who are going to play their first match”, Patidar said.

After losing the toss, Hyderabad stand-in skipper Ishan Kishan said they will try to execute their plans against the defending champions. “Looks like a fresh wicket, doesn’t matter if you bat or bowl first. You don’t need to start doing something new. We need to execute our plans. Everyone looks in good touch,” Kishan said.

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.

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. (ANI)