Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2026 Match No 1 LIVE Streaming Details: Timings, Telecast Date, when and where to watch RCB vs SRH in India online and on TV channel

RCB vs SRH IPL 2026 Match No 1 LIVE: Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will begin their campaign in the 19th edition of the Indian Premier League with a clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.

RCB vs SRH IPL 2026 LIVE: For the first time after 18 seasons, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be heading into an Indian Premier League campaign as the defending champions. They begin the defence of their title against Kavya Maran's Sunrisers Hyderabad, who have won the title twice once as Deccan Chargers back in 2009 season. RCB will finally return to their home ground of M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru to get the IPL 2026 underway against SRH on Saturday.

It will be the first time that top-grade cricket returns to the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium after the tragedy which unfolded in June last year when 11 people died after RCB's felicitation function. But all eyes will once again be on former India captain Virat Kohli who is looking hungrier than ever before in international cricket in the lead up to this year's IPL.

The T20 league is crucial for Kohli if he aspires to stay in the mix for the Team India selection for the ODI World Cup 2027 in South Africa next year. "I've been watching really closely (Kohli batting at nets), he looks on top of his game, he looks super fit. I was watching him do shuttles the other day, he looks light on his feet, very fit, very lean, very hungry," said RCB head coach Andy Flower in the pre-match press conference in Bengaluru on Friday.

"He's always been very hungry and determined and I think that mental and emotional space that he's in, where he's very comfortable with himself as a person, but he's also very hungry to drive himself as a professional sportsperson," Flower added.

The visitors Sunrisers Hyderabad hold the edge in head-to-head contest between the two sides, having won 13 out of the 26 matches against RCB till date while Rajat Patidar's side have won 11 clashes with one match tied and one game washed out.

There will be plenty of changes in both sides with injuries to big players like Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood and RCB also missing pacer Yash Dayal for the entire season. But coach Flower was impressed by development of Patidar as a leader since last year.

"It's pretty amazing that in Rajat's first year of captaincy he led RCB to the trophy, he'd only a little bit of captaincy experience before that I think for Madhya Pradesh. But we did like what we saw when we saw him leading.

"He's obviously a very likeable man and he's well respected in the dressing room. He's got high integrity, he stays nice and calm which I think the bowlers like a lot and he's got a good deputy in Jitesh," Flower said.

Here are all the details about Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2026 match no 1

When is Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2026 match no 1 going to take place?

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2026 match no 1 will take place on Saturday, March 28.

Where is Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2026 match no 1 going to take place?

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2026 match no 1 will be held at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

What time will Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2026 match no 1 start?

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2026 match no 1 will begin at 730pm IST. The toss for the match will be held at 7pm.

Where can I watch Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2026 match no 1 on TV in India?

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2026 match no 1 will be available LIVE on TV on Star Sports network channels in India.

How can I watch livestreaming of Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2026 match no 1 in India?

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2026 match no 1 will be available for livestreaming on JioHotstar website and app in India.

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, 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, Zeeshan Ansari

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