New Delhi. The excitement of IPL 2026 is at its peak. But when the teams of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants faced each other at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, everyone’s eyes were more on the team sheet than the scoreboard. Veteran batsman Virat Kohli, who was in excellent form since the beginning of the season, was not a part of the starting eleven of the host team. However, the management has kept the hopes of the fans alive by including him in the list of ‘Impact Players’.
The reason for Virat Kohli’s absence is ankle injury suffered in the last match. Kohli injured his ankle during the spectacular 18-run win against Mumbai Indians. This season, the opening pair of Kohli and Philip Salt has given many strong starts to RCB, hence Kohli’s absence on the field is being considered a big blow to the balance of the team.
Captain Rajat Patidar won the toss and decided to bowl first. Patidar believed that Chinnaswamy’s pitch would help the bowlers in the initial overs. At the time of the toss, Patidai said, ‘We will bowl first. It is quite clear that the wicket is looking good. We want to take advantage of the first innings and put pressure on the opposition team. This time there is less grass on the pitch compared to the last match, so it will prove to be a good track.
Bowling got an edge with the return of Josh Hazlewood
RCB made a major change in its team for this important match. In place of fast bowler Duffy, experienced Australian bowler Josh Hazlewood was included in the playing eleven. Expressing confidence in Hazlewood’s comeback, Patidar said that the rest of the team players are performing well, but Hazlewood’s experience will be useful to the team in the death overs.
Rishabh Pant and Lucknow’s confidence
On the other hand, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain Rishabh Pant looked quite confident despite his team’s ups and downs performance. Pant made it clear during the toss that the pitch is excellent for batting and he is ready to perform well in any situation.
Talking about his team’s approach, Pant said, ‘We are completely confident. Whether we bat first or second, we just have to play well. We don’t want to introspect too much, just trust our team and hit the ground running. There are many leaders in our team who understand their responsibilities. Interestingly, Lucknow did not make any changes in its team and decided to go with the same winning combination.
Playing XI and impact options of both the teams
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG): Lucknow’s batting is in the hands of Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh and Rishabh Pant himself. There are aggressive batsmen like Nicholas Puran and Ayush Badoni in the middle order. The bowling is being led by experienced Mohammed Shami and Avesh Khan.
Playing XI: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (captain/wicketkeeper), Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Mukul Chaudhary, Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Prince Yadav.
Impact Sub: Manimaran Siddharth, George Linde, Matthew Britzke, Himmat Singh, Mayank Yadav.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB): Playing XI: Philip Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (captain), Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyyash Sharma, Rasik Salaam Dar.
Impact Sub: Virat Kohli, Venkatesh Iyer, Jordan Cox, Kanishk Chauhan, Mangesh Yadav.
Will Kohli come to bat?
The biggest question of the match remains whether RCB will field Virat Kohli as an impact player while chasing the target or during the innings. As per the rules, if RCB feels the need of any additional reinforcement while batting, they can send Kohli to the crease despite the ankle injury.
