IPL-19 begins in Bengaluru with hosts and defending champions RCB taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad with plenty of firepower expected from both sides at a venue that returns to action after months away from competitive cricket
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s captain Ishan Kishan in Bengaluru on Thursday
Split by the playing surface and hemmed in by nets, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad practiced side by side, batters from both teams hitting the cover off the cricket ball. Around the cleaning of the seats and the removal of the cobwebs, the staccato ‘thwack, thwack, thwack’ of willow meeting and disdainfully despatching leather was unmistakable as the gauntlet was laid down at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Readying for its first competitive fixture in nearly 11 months, the Chinnaswamy has undergone a sea of external change necessitated by the tragic events of June 4, which turned victory celebrations into a tragedy of unspeakable proportion. Less than 24 hours previously, the RCB men had broken a 17-year duck and lifted the title for the first time. Tens of thousands had gathered in and around the venue to herald the arrival of the champions, but the lack of preparedness in crowd control and mixed messaging contributed to 11 lives being snuffed out needlessly and prematurely.
Doubts persisted for several months after the horrifying stampede over Chinnaswamy’s readiness as a host, until a new dispensation at the Karnataka State Cricket Association under former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad undertook a series of confidence-building and civil measures that earned the approval of the Karnataka state government. Which is why we are now here to herald the opening game of IPL 2026 on Saturday, between Rajat Patidar’s holders and SRH, the 2016 winners helmed by Ishan Kishan for the time being.
The diminutive Kishan was one of the great success stories of the T20 World Cup and headlines a power-packed batting unit that will attempt to compensate for the early absence of regular skipper Pat Cummins, recovering from a back injury. Cummins joined the squad in Bengaluru a couple of days back, and will be hoping Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Kishan himself, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Liam Livingstone, local R Smaran and the exciting young duo of Aniket Verma and Salil Arora make up for any depletion in bowling resources.
RCB, themselves flush with heavy artillery and buoyed by the excellent touch shown by their talisman, Virat Kohli, will be without pacer Yash Dayal for the entire campaign and Aussie spearhead Josh Hazlewood for the first few games. Hazlewood’s 22 scalps were among the driving forces of last year’s triumphant march. Now, they will need new and myriad heroes as they eye a successful title defence.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
