RCB Shocks Fans with Abhinandan Singh in Season Opener
Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru opened their IPL 2026 campaign with a surprise selection on Saturday. RCB named Abhinandan Singh and Jacob Duffy in the XI and chose to bowl first at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Bold call shakes fans
The inclusion of Abhinandan drew immediate attention. RCB shocks fans by selecting Abhinandan Singh for the season opener, an unexpected move given his limited top-level exposure.
About Abhinandan Singh
Abhinandan is a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He is two days short of his 29th birthday.
He impressed in nets as a Kolkata Knight Riders practice bowler during KKR’s 2024 title run. RCB bought him for his base price of 30 lakh at the 2025 auction. The franchise retained him for the 2026 season.
Sunrisers hand a debut to Salil Arora
Sunrisers Hyderabad also handed out a first IPL cap. Wicketkeeper-batter Salil Arora, 23, makes his debut after a strong domestic season for Punjab.
He scored 358 runs in the 2025/26 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. His strike rate was 198.88.
Arora smashed an unbeaten 125 off 45 balls against Jharkhand. The innings included nine fours and 11 sixes, with 102 runs in boundaries. SRH bought him for 1.5 crore at the 2026 auction.
Captains on the toss and tactics
Rajat Patidar won the toss and elected to bowl. He said the team will start with a fresh mindset and aim to regain the title.
Patidar backed his new pace options. He expressed faith in Jacob Duffy and Abhinandan Singh to make an impact.
Ishan Kishan said SRH would have preferred to bowl. He added the side is comfortable batting on a fresh surface and will keep plans simple. Kishan also pointed out Salil Arora as a player to watch, despite missing Pat Cummins.
Team lineups
- RCB: Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma.
- RCB Impact Subs: Devdutt Padikkal, Jacob Bethell, Rasikh Salam Dar, Kanishk Chouhan, Venkatesh Iyer.
- SRH: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (c/wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga.
- SRH Impact Subs: Shivang Kumar, Liam Livingstone, David Payne, Smaran Ravichandran, Sakib Hussain.
The match marked a fresh start to IPL 2026. Both teams fielded a mix of experience and new talent for the season opener.
Published by Amar Panicker on Mar 28, 2026 19:38 IST. Filmogaz.com.
