The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 is scheduled to begin on March 28 and defending champions Royal challengers Bengaluru will be taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first match in Bengaluru. Traditionally, the tournament opener has the two finalists of the previous edition taking on each other but BCCI has broken the trend this time.
It was earlier reported that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) might play the first match against RCB but they are likely to play Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati on March 30.
🚨 IPL 2026 SCHEDULE IS OUT. 🚨
– The first phase IPL schedule is now out. (Express Sports). pic.twitter.com/K29G6kF6d7
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 11, 2026
Mumbai Indians will begin the campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday (March 29). The Punjab Kings who had ended the IPL 2025 as runners up are set to face Gujarat Titans on March 31 while Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals take on each other on April 1.
RCB to Defend Title
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru will come into the tournament as the defending champions having defeated Punjab Kings in the final of the previous season.
Batting first, RCB posted 190/9 in 20 overs. Virat Kohli chipped in with 43 off 35 while Mayank Agarwal, captain Rajat Patidar, Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma made valuable contributions. Later, it was the bowling unit that didn’t let PBKS take the upperhand and eventually restricted the opposition to 184/7 in 20 overs. Shashank Singh fought right till the end and scored an unbeaten 61 off 30 but couldn’t take his side over the line. Krunal Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar scalped a couple of wickets apiece while Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood and Romario Shepherd picked up one each.
RCB held a small preparation camp at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on February 10. Virat Kohli has also started his preparations and he released a video of himself sweating it out in the nets on social media. Kohli has led RCB earlier but failed to take the team to the title.
The flamboyant batter has been a part of thr RCb since the very beginning and has only played for one franchise. He has 8661 runs in 267 matches so far for the Bengaluru franchise. Kohli also holds the record for most runs in one single edition when he hammered 973 runs in 2016 season. RCB lost to Sunrisers in the final in that season of the cash-rich league. The 2016 finalists are likely to play each other in the first match of the IPL 2026 edition.
Also Read: IPL 2026 Schedule Announcement Live Updates
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