IPL 2026: Begins Today -10 Key Things to Know
Bengaluru Hosts A Powerful, Tearful, and Emotional IPL 2026 Kickoff: 11 Seats Left Empty in Bengaluru
IPL 2026 RCB vs SRH: The 19th season of the IPL starts today with a match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Fans are excited to see their favourite players at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
There are many big changes this year in the IPL 2026. Sanju Samson is now playing for Chennai Super Kings, and Ravindra Jadeja is playing for Rajasthan Royals. Mohammed Shami will play for Lucknow. Young stars from the Under-19 World Cup and players from Jammu and Kashmir also want to do well. Even though the matches are starting, we do not know yet where the final games will be played. There is also a lot of talk because the RCB and Rajasthan Royals teams have been sold to new owners.
1. A Sad Memory Last year, 11 people died in a crush during a victory parade at the Bengaluru stadium. To show respect, the team will leave 11 seats empty during the match. It will be an emotional day for the fans.
2. No Opening Party There will be no big opening show or concert this year. The BCCI (the cricket bosses) said this is because of the sad event that happened last year. They want to keep things quiet and respectful.
3. Respect for Fans The first match is SRH vs RCB. Before it starts, players will stand still for two minutes of silence. The RCB players might also wear black armbands. This is the first time since 2008 that Bengaluru has hosted the very first match of the season.
4. The Schedule At first, only 20 matches were announced. Now, the full list is out. There will be 70 matches in total across different cities in India. The final game will be on 24 May.
5. New Groups Teams are split into two groups based on how many times they have won before.
Group A: Chennai, Kolkata, Rajasthan, Bengaluru, and Punjab.
Group B: Mumbai, Hyderabad, Gujarat, Delhi, and Lucknow. This year, teams play everyone in their own group once and everyone in the other group twice.
6. Afternoon Matches There will be 12 days when two matches are played on the same day. Every team will play at least two games in the afternoon. Most teams will play one of these at their home stadium.
7. Massive Money Two teams were sold for a huge amount of money before the season started. Bengaluru was sold for £1.6 billion (16,700 crore), and Rajasthan Royals was sold for £1.3 billion (13,500 crore).
8. New Captains India recently won the T20 World Cup. However, seven of the captains in this IPL were not part of that winning team. Fans want to see if these leaders can play as well as the world champions.
9. A Chance to Shine. This league is a big chance for players like Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, and Mohammed Shami to prove they are the best. Young stars like Vaibhav Suryavanshi will also be watched closely.
10. Player Worries Some teams are worried about players getting injured. Some players have also left other leagues to play in the IPL. Chennai wants to win again, while Bengaluru wants to make history by winning two years in a row.
RCB Squad:
Jitesh Sharma, Virat Kohli, Abhinandan Singh, Krunal Pandya, Rajat Patidar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Devdutt Padikkal, Rasikh Salam Dar, Satvik Deswal, Venkatesh Iyer, Suyash Sharma, Vicky Ostwal, Swapnil Singh, Kanishk Chouhan, Vihaan Malhotra, Yash Dayal, Romario Shepherd ✈️, Jordan Cox ✈️, Josh Hazlewood ✈️, Mangesh Yadav, Jacob Bethell ✈️, Phil Salt ✈️, Nuwan Thushara ✈️, Jacob Duffy ✈️, Tim David ✈️
SRH Squad:
Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Aniket Verma, Smaran Ravichandran, Salil Arora, Heinrich Klaasen, Kamindu Mendis, Harshal Patel, Harsh Dubey, Brydon Carse, Shivang Kumar, Krains Fuletra, Liam Livingstone, Jack Edwards, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins, Zeeshan Ansari, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, Onkar Tarmale, Amit Kumar, Praful Hinge, Shivam Mavi
