RCB vs SRH Playing 11: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2026 Match 1 Team News, Predicted Lineups

RCB vs SRH Playing 11: Royal Challengers Bengaluru are set to lock horns in the IPL 2026 opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday (March 28) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

The defending champions RCB start the campaign on home turf as they play a strong contender in SRH, who will have their ambitions of winning the prestigious competition.

RCB vs SRH Playing 11 Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad Lineups

RCB vs SRH Team News, Injury Updates

RCB, under captain Rajat Patidar, will miss key pacers. Josh Hazlewood is recovering from hamstring/Achilles issues and will sit out the early games, while Yash Dayal is unavailable for the entire season due to personal reasons. The bowling attack relies on experience from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and overseas options like Jacob Duffy. Phil Salt strengthens the top order alongside Virat Kohli.

SRH face bigger concerns as regular captain Pat Cummins recovers from a lumbar stress injury and will miss the initial matches. Ishan Kishan leads the side, with Abhishek Sharma as deputy. Australian all-rounder Jack Edwards is ruled out for the season due to injury. Heinrich Klaasen remains a middle-order anchor, and the team banks on its aggressive top order.

SRH's top four - Head, Abhishek, Kishan, Klaasen - is arguably the most destructive in the league. Nitish Reddy and Livingstone will offer all-round balance, but the pace attack appears vulnerable without Cummins.

RCB and SRH IPL 2026 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

RCB vs SRH Playing 11: IPL 2026 Match 1 Predicted Lineups

RCB: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma

RCB Impact Player: Rasikh Salam/Venkatesh Iyer

SRH: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (c & wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Liam Livingstone, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Brydon Carse, Zeeshan Ansari

SRH Impact Player: Aniket Verma/Salil Arora/Smaran Ravichandran