Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, 16th Match, Indian Premier League 2026 - Commentary
Start Time
7:30 PM
2:00 PMGMT
7:30 PMLOCAL
Match starts at Apr 10, 14:00 GMT
Have Your Say
Preview by Aayush Puthran
Setting aside the permanent co-existence crisis between Guwahati's human residents and its mosquitoes - and the small arsenal of pesticide and other repellent sprays deployed in that eternal diplomacy - there was, on Thursday, a certain uncomfortable calmness in the city.
With nearly 85 per cent of eligible voters making their way to the polling booth to decide the fate of their future - and that of their state - the roads were fairly empty. There was no political fervour, the horns weren't blaring in choked street junctions, and certainly no apparent excitement to suggest that the country's most popular cricket team was in town for the first time. The proof was probably already on offer, when barely half the stadium filled up to entertain two other marquee visiting teams - Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians - over the past 10 days.
As Guwahati's IPL season is set to come to an end, some teenagers still turned up, patiently outside the gates of the stadium. Most of them came donning Virat Kohli's jersey, and one optimistically or nostalgically of Sanju Samson, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite players. But the stars, just like the promised rain, didn't turn up for practice on Thursday evening.
The ground witnessing the prep for the big clash wore just as cold an atmosphere as the streets. The benched players - Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh, Lhuan-dre Pretorious, Shubham Dubey, Aman Rao faced up to net bowlers and side-arm throws, spending quality time in the nets while most premier players were giving the optional evening practise session a skip, or doing light warm-ups on the side.
There were enough big whacks by the fringe players to suggest they are nearly as equipped to provide the entertainment that their teammates have been providing on matchdays this season. But it's unlikely they will have much of a role to play when the two teams clash on Friday evening, trying to assert their dominance in IPL 2026.
For RCB, it's about taking forward the momentum from the previous season. For Royals, it has been about shedding their past. And all of it culminates into one enriching contest, headlined by the battle between RCB's new-ball attack and RR's openers.
Even as the light practice session gave little away to reveal the intensity of this Battle-Royal, this encounter is where the early edge of dominance will be ceded. Over the past two weeks, RCB and Royals have traded the top spot a few times, having been on an unbeaten run like Punjab Kings. There will be one leader by the end of Friday's encounter, and one team's victory streak will come to an end before both teams bid goodbye to IPL 2026 in Guwahati, and the city's mosquitoes.
When: Friday, April 10, 2026, 7:30 PM IST
Where: Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, ACA Stadium, Guwahati
What to expect: For a change, there is no prediction of rain during the match hours, even as brief spells of drizzle are expected earlier in the day. But don't be surprised if the sky is overcast at different times during the game.
Head to head: RCB have enjoyed a narrow 17-14 lead over Royals, having won four out of the six encounters between the two sides since 2023.
Team News:
Rajasthan Royals
Injuries/Unavailability: No injuries have been reported
Tactics & Matchups: Ravi Bishnoi has managed to restrict Virat Kohli and Phil Salt fairly well, and has troubled Tim David in the past. Expect the leggie to play a role in the Powerplay if the openers survive for long, and be brought on to control the menace in the death.
Probable XII: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Injuries/Unavailability: At the optional practise session on Thursday, several players decided to skip. But no injuries have been communicated, even as Josh Hazlewood's return date is not known.
Tactics & Matchups: Apart from Jaiswal and Sooryavanshi, since 2022, none of Rajasthan Royals' batters have scored at a strike rate of over 135 against spin in the IPL. Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma could apply the much needed middle-over choke.
Probable XII: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Tim David, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma
Did you know?
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has the best strike-rate by any batter in the Powerplay IPL since 2025. His strike rate of 227.35 in this phase is far ahead of the second best - Priyansh Arya's 180.46.
Six of Ravi Bishnoi's seven wickets this season have come with a googly. When he bowls the wrong 'un, he concedes runs at nearly half the rate as compared to his quicker ones and legbreaks.
In the 85 balls that Bhuvneshwar Kumar has bowled to Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel in T20s, he has never dismissed any of them, and conceded 161 runs.
What they said:
Over the last couple of years, I have been actively working on trying to improve my strike rate. I'm glad those processes and the hard work that's gone behind the scenes is coming to fruition now - RCB's Devdutt Padikkal, on his improvement as a T20 batter
It's always fun when you're winning, but there's a long way to go in the competition. Hopefully, we can play as consistently as we are. If we do, we are going to be tough to beat - Shane Bond, Rajasthan Royals' bowling coach
Setting aside the permanent co-existence crisis between Guwahati's human residents and its mosquitoes - and the small arsenal of pesticide and other repellent sprays deployed in that eternal diplomacy - there was, on Thursday, a certain uncomfortable calmness in the city.
With nearly 85 per cent of eligible voters making their way to the polling booth to decide the fate of their future - and that of their state - the roads were fairly empty. There was no political fervour, the horns weren't blaring in choked street junctions, and certainly no apparent excitement to suggest that the country's most popular cricket team was in town for the first time. The proof was probably already on offer, when barely half the stadium filled up to entertain two other marquee visiting teams - Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians - over the past 10 days.
As Guwahati's IPL season is set to come to an end, some teenagers still turned up, patiently outside the gates of the stadium. Most of them came donning Virat Kohli's jersey, and one optimistically or nostalgically of Sanju Samson, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite players. But the stars, just like the promised rain, didn't turn up for practice on Thursday evening.
The ground witnessing the prep for the big clash wore just as cold an atmosphere as the streets. The benched players - Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh, Lhuan-dre Pretorious, Shubham Dubey, Aman Rao faced up to net bowlers and side-arm throws, spending quality time in the nets while most premier players were giving the optional evening practise session a skip, or doing light warm-ups on the side.
There were enough big whacks by the fringe players to suggest they are nearly as equipped to provide the entertainment that their teammates have been providing on matchdays this season. But it's unlikely they will have much of a role to play when the two teams clash on Friday evening, trying to assert their dominance in IPL 2026.
For RCB, it's about taking forward the momentum from the previous season. For Royals, it has been about shedding their past. And all of it culminates into one enriching contest, headlined by the battle between RCB's new-ball attack and RR's openers.
Even as the light practice session gave little away to reveal the intensity of this Battle-Royal, this encounter is where the early edge of dominance will be ceded. Over the past two weeks, RCB and Royals have traded the top spot a few times, having been on an unbeaten run like Punjab Kings. There will be one leader by the end of Friday's encounter, and one team's victory streak will come to an end before both teams bid goodbye to IPL 2026 in Guwahati, and the city's mosquitoes.
When: Friday, April 10, 2026, 7:30 PM IST
Where: Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, ACA Stadium, Guwahati
What to expect: For a change, there is no prediction of rain during the match hours, even as brief spells of drizzle are expected earlier in the day. But don't be surprised if the sky is overcast at different times during the game.
Head to head: RCB have enjoyed a narrow 17-14 lead over Royals, having won four out of the six encounters between the two sides since 2023.
Team News:
Rajasthan Royals
Injuries/Unavailability: No injuries have been reported
Tactics & Matchups: Ravi Bishnoi has managed to restrict Virat Kohli and Phil Salt fairly well, and has troubled Tim David in the past. Expect the leggie to play a role in the Powerplay if the openers survive for long, and be brought on to control the menace in the death.
Probable XII: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Injuries/Unavailability: At the optional practise session on Thursday, several players decided to skip. But no injuries have been communicated, even as Josh Hazlewood's return date is not known.
Tactics & Matchups: Apart from Jaiswal and Sooryavanshi, since 2022, none of Rajasthan Royals' batters have scored at a strike rate of over 135 against spin in the IPL. Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma could apply the much needed middle-over choke.
Probable XII: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Tim David, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma
Did you know?
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has the best strike-rate by any batter in the Powerplay IPL since 2025. His strike rate of 227.35 in this phase is far ahead of the second best - Priyansh Arya's 180.46.
Six of Ravi Bishnoi's seven wickets this season have come with a googly. When he bowls the wrong 'un, he concedes runs at nearly half the rate as compared to his quicker ones and legbreaks.
In the 85 balls that Bhuvneshwar Kumar has bowled to Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel in T20s, he has never dismissed any of them, and conceded 161 runs.
What they said:
Over the last couple of years, I have been actively working on trying to improve my strike rate. I'm glad those processes and the hard work that's gone behind the scenes is coming to fruition now - RCB's Devdutt Padikkal, on his improvement as a T20 batter
It's always fun when you're winning, but there's a long way to go in the competition. Hopefully, we can play as consistently as we are. If we do, we are going to be tough to beat - Shane Bond, Rajasthan Royals' bowling coach
Squads:
Rajasthan Royals Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel(w), Riyan Parag(c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Shubham Dubey, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Brijesh Sharma, Ravi Singh, Adam Milne, Dasun Shanaka, Kuldeep Sen, Sushant Mishra, Kwena Maphaka, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Vignesh Puthur, Aman Rao Perala
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma, Jacob Bethell, Rasikh Salam Dar, Kanishk Chouhan, Venkatesh Iyer, Josh Hazlewood, Mangesh Yadav, Swapnil Singh, Jordan Cox, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra, Satvik Deswal
