By Akshay
March 26, 2026
The first match of IPL 2026 will be played on March 28. Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad will face each other at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Phil Salt and Virat Kohli will open the innings for RCB. Devdutt Padikkal will bat at number three, Captain Rajat Patidar at number four; Tim David and Jitesh Sharma will bat at numbers five and six.
Bengaluru's bowling attack poses their biggest challenge. With fast bowler Josh Hazlewood ruled out of the first few matches, the question of who will take his place remains a major concern.
Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Tim David, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd/Jacob Bethell, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Dar