RCB Begin IPL 2026 Title Defence Against SRH at Emotional Chinnaswamy
Defending champions RCB face SRH in the IPL 2026 opener at Chinnaswamy on Saturday — the first match at the venue since the stampede that killed 11 people during last year’s title celebrations. RCB players will wear black armbands in tribute.
RCB go in without Hazlewood, Yash Dayal and Thushara, leaving their pace attack threadbare on a surface where average first-innings scores sit around 194. SRH are also missing skipper Pat Cummins, with Ishan Kishan taking charge. Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Liam Livingstone form a dangerous top order.
Kohli needs 29 runs to become the sixth-highest T20 scorer of all time, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar is two wickets from 200 IPL scalps.
Match starts 7:30 PM IST. Live on Star Sports and JioHotstar.