RCB and SRH meet in tonight's IPL 2026 opener with both sides missing key bowlers
The 2026 Indian Premier League begins tonight in Bengaluru, with a game that carries more emotional weight than a typical season opener. Eleven seats at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium will remain empty throughout the match, and RCB's players will wear black armbands in memory of the 11 fans who lost their lives in the crowd crush that followed the franchise's maiden title triumph last June. There is no opening ceremony.
RCB's bowling unit is stretched thin
Rajat Patidar's side has plenty of batting firepower, with Virat Kohli and Phil Salt expected to open and the likes of Devdutt Padikkal, Tim David and Jacob Bethell filling out the middle order. The problem sits at the other end.
Josh Hazlewood has not played competitive cricket since November 2025 and is still working through a hamstring and Achilles rehabilitation programme managed by Cricket Australia. He is in the RCB camp but not yet match-ready. Yash Dayal has been ruled out of the entire season due to what the franchise called a "personal situation." Nuwan Thushara failed a mandatory fitness test set by Sri Lanka Cricket and has been denied his NOC, meaning he too will miss the opener at a minimum.
That leaves Bhuvneshwar Kumar as the senior pace option, with Krunal Pandya's left-arm spin, Suyash Sharma's leg spin and young Mangesh Yadav likely to fill the gaps. On a Chinnaswamy pitch that has historically been tough on bowlers, that is a lot of inexperience to throw at a batting lineup as aggressive as SRH's.
SRH's firepower without Cummins
Sunrisers Hyderabad have their own absence to manage. Pat Cummins is recovering from a lumbar stress injury and will miss the early part of the tournament, with Ishan Kishan stepping in as interim captain and Abhishek Sharma serving as vice-captain.
The batting lineup, though, looks menacing. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma should open, with Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy stacking the middle order. If one of those five gets going on this surface, the total could quickly get out of hand. Harshal Patel, who spent years at RCB before joining SRH, knows the Chinnaswamy dimensions better than most. Brydon Carse adds overseas pace, and Jaydev Unadkat gives the attack left-arm variety.
Head-to-head favours SRH
SRH lead the all-time head-to-head record with 14 wins from 26 meetings, against RCB's 11 victories and one no-result. This is only the second time these two sides have played in the IPL's opening fixture. The last time was in 2017, when SRH were the defending champions. This time around, those roles are reversed.
What to expect tonight
The Chinnaswamy pitch tends to favour the side batting second, with chasing teams winning 53% of matches at the ground. With both bowling attacks short of their strongest options, this could turn into a high-scoring contest where the toss plays a bigger role than either captain would like. The match kicks off at 7:30 PM IST.
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