Probable Playing XI And Match Prediction As Chinnaswamy Stadium Gears Up For Curtain Raiser

By Samira Vishwas On Mar 28, 2026

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In less than 24 hours, defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will lock horns against the SunRisers Hyderabad in IPL 2026’s curtain-raiser at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. With sixes likely to galore at the iconic venue, fans can expect a run-fest and a close contest between the two sides, especially since both Royal Challengers and SunRisers are missing their main bowler in Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, respectively.

RCB vs SRH, IPL 2026, Match 1, Preview

The Royal Challengers have retained their core for this season and can be expected to pretty much field the same batting line-up as they did in the previous season. Venkatesh Iyer, who fetched ₹7 crore in the IPL 2026 auction, will be the new face in the playing XI but it remains to be seen if they drop the in-form Devdutt Padikkal for him. Nevertheless, the reigning champions are light in bowling as Josh Hazlewood will miss the first few games and Nuwan Thushara missing the entirety of the season. Jacob Duffy is expected to make his IPL debut.

SunRisers are also a batting-heavy unit, with Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan likely to headline their top three. Heinrich Klaasen is another bona fide six-hitter of the ball, while Brydon Carse could play his first IPL match. Nevertheless, the bulk of the bowling for SRH is likely to be handled by the Indian contingent.

RCB and SRH probable playing XI

RCB XI: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Tim David, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Rasikh Salam.

SRH XI: Ishan Kishan (c,wk), Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, 6 Liam Livingstone, Salil Arora, Aniket Verma, Harsh Dubey, Brydon Carse, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat.

RCB vs SRH, IPL 2026, Match Prediction

Given the heavy batting artillery in both units, it’s tough to choose between both sides and missing key bowlers. Since there is likely to be dew and the venue being small, the chasing side could win the match. Hence, it may all come down to the toss.