Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru IPL 2026: Both RR and RCB are unlikely to make too many changes to their playing 11 after winning at their matches so far in the IPL 2026 season as they face off at ACA Stadium in Guwahati on Friday.
Updated: April 10, 2026 5:07 PM IST
RR vs RCB IPL 2026: Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will take on inaugural Indian Premier League winners Rajasthan Royals in match No. 16 of the IPL 2026 season at the ACA Stadium in Guwahati on Friday. Both sides are yet to lose a match this season with Virat Kohli’s RCB winning two out of two while RR featuring Vaibhav Sooryavanshi have posted hat-trick of wins.
RCB, however, will continue to miss the services of Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood, who is yet to regain full fitness. Hazlewood was retained for Rs 12.5 crore ahead of IPL 2026 season by RCB but is yet to play a single match this year.
New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy is likely to get the nod in the absence of Hazlewood with Sri Lanka pacer Nuwan Thushara not getting a NOC from his country’s board. Rajat Patidar’s side are also likely to stick with pacer Abhinandan Singh ahead of the likes of Mangesh Yadav. The IPL 2025 champions may, however, like to bring in Rasikh Dar into the side as Abhinandan has proven to be quite expensive with the ball.
The RCB bowling attack will be tested to the limit in the face of onslaught from 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The RR opener has smashed the first ball of the innings for four three times and for six a couple of time in his last 10 IPL innings.
Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal were brutal in their assault in the rain-hit contest against Mumbai Indians in their last match and have notched up opening stands of 74, 69 and 59 in their last three matches. The RR bowling attack is equally potent with Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger having the potential to rattle the likes of Virat Kohli and Co. while all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s addition has added much-needed control in their spin bowling department.
Kohli will specially be wary of the threat posed by veteran Sandeep Sharma, who has dismissed the former India and RCB skipper seven times in his IPL career.
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The 12th Man Army in Guwahati is ready to turn up and create an atmosphere that feels like a home game for RCB. That and more, on @bigbasket_com presents RCB 12th Man TV. ❤️#PlayBold… pic.twitter.com/osoNQYdh7R
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) April 10, 2026
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Sandeep Sharma, Nandre Burger, Tushar Deshpande, Ravi Bishnoi
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Tim David, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Abhinandan Singh, Suyash Sharma
