RCB vs SRH IPL 2026 Predicted Playing 11: Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad are currently on the same boat battling injuries to key players in the build-up to their IPL 2026 opening match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday. SRH will miss the services of their regular skipper Pat Cummins for the next couple of weeks at least as he recovers from back injury while RCB will be without their premier bowler Josh Hazlewood.
Both Australian pacers Cummins and Hazlewood arrived in Bengaluru ahead of the IPL 2026 opening match but both will be missing the match on Saturday evening. SRH have named Ishan Kishan as the interim skipper in the absence of Cummins while world No. 1 T20I batter Abhishek Sharma has been named as his deputy.
“I think Ishan’s been around in the IPL for a long period of time now. He’s been with a number of teams and he’s been highly successful, so, he brings in his own confidence around that,” SRH head coach Daniel Vettori said in the pre-match press meet in Bengaluru on Friday.
“The fact that he’s led the U19s and his state team and they won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this year brings a confident person, a confident player and a really confident leader and those are the attributes that we really looked at when he was appointed. His combination with Abhishek, they’re good friends, they know the team exceptionally well and I really feel like those two will lead from the front this season,” Vettori said.
SRH are expected to replace Cummins with England pacer bowler Brydon Carse, who can be useful with the bat as well. Carse will be joined by his England teammate Liam Livingstone in the playing 11 after shifting base from RCB last year. Livingstone was signed up by Kavya Maran’s SRH for Rs 13 crore at the IPL 2026 mini auction.
Vidarbha all-rounder Harsh Dubey – the leading wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy season – is also expected to play a big role for Ishan Kishan’s side.
The home team, on the other hand, are likely to replace Hazlewood with New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy, who was signed up for Rs 2 crore. Duffy claimed over 50 wickets in international cricket last season.
Left-arm pacer Yash Dayal is ruled out of the entire IPL 2026 season as well due to legal issues and will be replaced possibly by Mangesh Yadav, who was bought for Rs 5.2 crore. Virat Kohli is expected to continue his successful partnership with England opener Phil Salt but there is unlikely to be any place for talented Jacob Bethell with Venkatesh Iyer, who was bought for Rs 7 crore, like to get a spot in the playing 11 in Rajat Patidar’s side.
Modhaledadhama? pic.twitter.com/3R3KR1jITT
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) March 27, 2026
Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2026 match no 1 Predicted 12
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Venkatesh Iyer, Rajat Patidar (C), Jitesh Sharma (WK), Krunal Pandya, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Suyash Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy
Impact Player: Mangesh Yadav
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (C & WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Liam Livingstone, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Brydon Carse, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat
Impact Player: Zeeshan Ansari