28 March,2026 04:51 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Ravichandran Ashwin (Pic: File Pic)
The IPL 2026 is all set to start on Saturday. The first match of the tournament is scheduled to be played between the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Ahead of the match, former Team India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin feels that SRH's Heinrich Klaasen will have a night to remember, whereas he also picked Jacob Bethell as the power player for Bengaluru.
"I have a strange feeling for this match. In the last 18 months, this guy has not done much wonders. A strange feeling that Heinrich Klaasen is going to have a night to remember, I don't know why. From RCB's side, I think Jacob Bethell will be the power player of the day," he said on his YouTube channel.
He also feels that the Rajat Patidar-led RCB don't have much strength to stop leaking runs in the death overs.
"SRH have got the better of RCB in the recent past, and they will follow in this game also, I feel that this game will also follow that trend, for strange reasons that RCB are without Hazlewood. In that game in Lucknow last year, as well, Hazlewood was not there, if I am not wrong," said Ashwin.
"In RCB, we always have to remember that death overs bleed. If wickets are in hand, then it is not only difficult to stop runs in the death overs, it is impossible," he added.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Josh Hazlewood, Swapnil Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Krunal Pandya, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Venkatesh Iyer, Phil Salt (WK), Rajat Patidar (C), Nuwan Thushara, Romario Shepherd, Tim David, Devdutt Padikkal, Yash Dayal, Rasikh Salam, Jordan Cox, Jacob Bethell, Vicky Ostwal, Mangesh Yadav, Suyash Sharma, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhinandan Singh, Kanishk Chouhan, Satvik Deswal.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Pat Cummins, Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Travis Head, Liam Livingstone, Ishan Kishan (WK), Kamindu Mendis, Brydon Carse, Zeeshan Ansari, Abhishek Sharma, Shivam Mavi, Jack Edwards, Harsh Dubey, Salil Arora (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Amit Kumar, Praful Hinge, Smaran Ravichandran, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, Aniket Verma, Shivang Kumar, Krains Bhaveshbhai Fuletra, Omkar Tarmale.
(With ANI Inputs)
