Who will win the RCB vs SRH match? Check out the IPL 2026 match 1 prediction
The IPL 2026 tournament opener will be played between the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on March 28. The cricket fans are very excited for this match. Both teams are looking strong, and fans could witness a high-scoring, thrilling game.
Pitch Report: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
The match will be played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. The ground is generally considered to be a high-scoring ground, and once again, something similar is expected to happen. Last year, A total of 6 matches were held on this ground, with the team batting first winning 2 matches, while the team chasing won thrice. Both teams can decide to bowl first after winning the toss. If the team bats first, then they will have no other option except to make a huge total on this ground. Last time, when these two teams collided on this ground during IPL 2024, the visitors, Sunrisers Hyderabad, created a record total of 287 runs. In response, RCB also reached to 262 runs.
RCB vs SRH: Head-to-Head in IPL
Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad have faced each other 26 times in IPL history so far, with RCB winning 11 and SRH winning 14 times. In the last 5 meetings, SRH have an upper hand on RCB with 3-2.
RCB vs SRH: Probable Playing XIs
This marks the opening match of the tournament, and both teams are eager to kickstart their campaign with a resounding victory. For RCB, it is almost confirmed that, along with skipper Captain Rajat Patidar, Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Jitesh Sharma, and Romario Shepherd will all feature in the match. It remains to be seen which player—Venkatesh Iyer or Devdutt Padikkal—the team management decides to include in the Playing XI. Meanwhile, either Tim David or Jacob Duffy may have to sit out. Given that RCB's bowling attack relies heavily on Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the team might consider including Duffy in the Playing XI.
On the other hand, SRH's batting lineup features batters such as Travis Head, Livingstone, Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Reddy, and Aniket Verma. However, the team will need to engage in careful deliberation before finalising their selection of bowlers.
Predicted RCB playing XI
Virat Kohli, Philip Salt (✈ ), Rajat Patidar ©, Jacob Bethell (✈ ), Venkatesh Iyer, Krunal Pandya, Tim David/Jacob Duffy (✈), Romario Shepherd (✈ ), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma
Impact player — Devdutt Padikkal
Predicted SRH playing XI
Travis Head (✈), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan © (wk), Heinrich Klaasen (✈), Liam Livingstone (✈), Nitishkumar Reddy, Kamindu Mendis/Brydon Carse (✈), Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Shivam Mavi/Zeeshan Ansari
Impact player — Aniket Verma
Players to watch out for in the RCB vs SRH IPL 2026 match
Best batter: Travis Head (SRH)
When the last RCB and SRH collided at Chinnaswamy Stadium, SRH's potent opener Travis Head amassed 102 runs off just 41 balls. That day, SRH registered the highest total in IPL history with 287 runs. In order to give his team another successful start, Head will want to play a similar innings.
Best bowler: Bhuvneshwar Kumar (RCB)
RCB’s ace pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is once again ready to shine in the upcoming tournament. He was the second leading wicket-taker for RCB in the last edition, with 17 wickets. While he has good bowling experience on Chinnaswamy’s surface. He took 6 wickets in 5 games. Even in the first four games, his economy was impressive.
