RCB Vs SRH, IPL 2026 Match 1: Check Overall Head-To-Head Record Of This South Indian Derby

The wait is finally over. For the first time in history, Royal Challengers Bengaluru take the field as defending champions, beginning their title defense against South Indian rivals Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 season opener on Saturday, March 28, at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

While the return of Virat Kohli will naturally dominate the headlines, the anticipation is just as high for Hyderabad’s explosive batting unit.

Over the past two seasons, the duo of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma has terrorized bowling attacks with their relentless power-hitting.

Also Read: RCB Vs SRH, IPL 2026 Match 1: M Chinnaswamy Pitch Report And Weather Forecast

This threat is further amplified by the lethal form of Ishan Kishan, whose aggressive stroke-play has made this top order arguably the most dangerous in the tournament.

The Orange Army has a history of rewriting the record books. In 2024, Head and Sharma notched four 50+ powerplay stands and famously reached a team century in just 30 balls against Lucknow.

Even in their encounter last season, SRH plundered 231 runs against Bengaluru, fueled by an electric start from the openers and a masterclass 94 off 48 balls from Kishan.

Although Bengaluru fell short by 42 runs in that specific game, it didn’t derail their historic campaign.

Led by Rajat Patidar, RCB showed incredible resilience to eventually clinch their maiden IPL trophy by edging out Punjab Kings in a 6-run thriller in the final.

SRH remain a formidable threat following a strategic mini-auction, but the champions look stronger than ever.

Bolstering a core that features Kohli, Phil Salt, and Romario Shepherd with new signings like Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Duffy, and Jordan Cox, RCB are clearly primed to push for back-to-back titles.

RCB Vs SRH, IPL 2026 Match 1: Overall Head-To-Head Record

Matches played: 26

RCB wins: 11

SRH wins: 13

Draw: 2

Won toss and match: RCB 5-5 SRH

Toss Won, Batting First, Match Won: RCB 2-1 SRH

Toss Won, Bowling First, Match Won: RCB 3-4 SRH

RCB Vs SRH, IPL 2026 Match 1: Head-To-Head In Bengaluru

Matches played: 9

RCB wins: 5

SRH wins: 3

RCB Vs SRH, IPL 2026 Match 1: Head-To-Head Record In Last 5 Matches

8th May 2022: RCB won by 67 runs

18th May 2023: RCB won by 8 wickets (with 4 balls remaining)

15th April 2024: SRH won by 25 runs

25th April 2024: RCB won by 35 runs

23rd May 2025: SRH won by 42 runs

RCB Vs SRH, IPL 2026 Match 1: Squads

RCB: Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (C), Devdutt Padikkal, Venkatesh Iyer, Vihaan Malhotra, Kanishk Chouhan, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Jordan Cox, Krunal Pandya, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh, Satwik Deswal, Suyash Sharma, Vicky Ostwal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Nuwan Thushara, Rasikh Salam, Jacob Duffy, Mangesh Yadav, Abhinandan Singh

SRH: Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Smaran Ravichandran, Abhishek Sharma, Harsh Dubey, Kamindu Mendis, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins (c), Eshan Malinga, Jaydev Unadkat, Harshal Patel, Salil Arora, Praful Hinge, Liam Livingstone, Shivam Mavi, Jack Edwards, Brydon Carse, Sakib Hussain, Zeeshan Ansari, Aniket Verma, Amit Kumar, Krains Fuletra