digital desk- The much-awaited Indian Premier League 2026 has finally started. The first match of the 19th season is being played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. The match started with the toss, where RCB captain Rajat Patidar won the toss and decided to bowl first. After winning the toss, Patidar said chasing was a better option considering the pitch. Whereas, Hyderabad team has come to bat first. With this match, the long wait of cricket fans has ended and tremendous enthusiasm is being seen in the stadium.
New faces in both teams, change in captaincy
In this match, some new faces were seen in the playing eleven of both the teams. Jacob Duffy and Abhinandan Singh made their debut for RCB, while Salil Arora came on the field for the first time for Hyderabad. Ishan Kishan is captaining Sunrisers Hyderabad in this match, as regular captain Pat Cummins is not available in the initial matches. On the other hand, the command of RCB is in the hands of Rajat Patidar. Hyderabad team includes strong batsmen like Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Reddy. Whereas in bowling, experienced names like Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat give balance to the team. On behalf of RCB, Virat Kohli, Phil Salt and Tim David will take command of the batting, while the responsibility of bowling will be on Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Suyyash Sharma.
Pitch Report: High scoring match expected
According to former veteran cricketer Anil Kumble, the pitch of Chinnaswamy Stadium is going to be helpful for the batsmen. He told that one end of the field is 65 meters and the other is 64 meters, due to which big shots can be seen. However, fast bowlers may get some help in the initial overs. RCB has entered this match as the defending champion. Last year, the team created history by winning the title, but the victory celebration turned into a tragedy when 11 people died in a stampede outside the stadium. This is the first major match after this incident, due to which the atmosphere is also emotional.
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