The excitement of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 reaches a fever pitch as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) squares off against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the high-stakes 67th match of the tournament. Set against the vibrant backdrop of the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday, this blockbuster clash features two heavyweight sides that have already secured their playoff berths. With table positioning and crucial momentum on the line, fans packed the stadium expecting a run-fest on Uppal’s historically flat deck. However, right at the toss, a major piece of team news caught everyone off guard: RCB’s promising young all-rounder, Jacob Bethell, was missing from the lineup.
Why Jacob Bethell is not playing against SRH in today’s match?
The mystery surrounding Bethell’s absence from this crucial encounter was put to rest by Rajat Patidar, who handled the captaincy duties for RCB during the toss. Patidar revealed that Bethell is sitting out of the clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad due to a fresh finger injury. The young English cricketer, who had been tasked with opening the innings alongside Virat Kohli following a previous injury setback to Phil Salt, met with this unexpected hurdle just ahead of the final league stage fixture.
Despite the sudden forced change, Patidar radiated confidence regarding RCB’s immense squad depth and their mindset going into the match. When asked about what the team wanted to take out of this particular game, Patidar emphasized a relentless work ethic, noting that where a team stands on the points table is irrelevant because matching elite standards is a requirement for every single match. He also highlighted that managing injuries is always difficult in a hyper-competitive tournament like the IPL, especially when targeting a championship win. Fortunately for RCB, this stands as their only major active injury worry, allowing Patidar himself to return seamlessly to the playing XI as Bethell’s direct replacement.
Playing XI and impact substitutes of both the teams
Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins won the toss on his home turf and elected to bat first, aiming to post a massive total to boost their net run rate and push for a top-two finish. Both teams went into this high-octane battle with powerful, balanced squads suited for the batting-friendly Hyderabad surface.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam Dar
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, Smaran Ravichandran, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins (c), Shivang Kumar, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain.
To tactically alter their team dynamics as the match progresses, both strategists named a deep bench of substitute options.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact Subs: Tim David, Kanishk Chouhan, Swapnil Singh, Abhinandan Singh, Jordan Cox.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Impact Subs: Praful Hinge, Aniket Verma, Liam Livingstone, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel.
