Patna: The 19th season of the Indian Premier League began in Bengaluru on Saturday with Royal Challengers Bengaluru electing to bowl first after winning the toss against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The early spotlight, however, belonged to Ishan Kishan, who marked his first outing as Hyderabad captain with a fluent 80 off 38 balls before being dismissed in the 16th over.
Kishan, leading the side in place of the injured Pat Cummins, reached his half-century in just 27 deliveries during the 12th over, striking five sixes and six fours in an aggressive innings that briefly put SRH in control.
His dismissal came off the final ball of the 16th over when Abhinandan Singh’s full toss was driven towards cover, where Phil Salt held a running catch near the boundary rope.
The innings marked Kishan’s first fifty as SRH captain and came in his first season leading the franchise, making him the youngest captain in the team’s history at 27 years and 253 days, surpassing the previous record held by Kane Williamson.
Rajat Patidar is captaining RCB in a match billed as a key early-season contest, with attention also on the contest between Kishan and RCB’s senior batter Virat Kohli.
SRH’s decision to appoint Kishan followed Cummins’ back injury, which is expected to sideline the Australia captain for several early fixtures. Hyderabad’s leadership group has previously included figures such as Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Manish Pandey.
Kishan was signed by SRH for Rs 11.25 crore at the IPL 2025 mega auction and retained ahead of the current season. He had earlier led Jharkhand to a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title in the 2025–26 domestic season, strengthening his credentials as a leader in the shorter format.
His rise has continued across formats, including a century on debut for SRH in IPL 2025 and a strong run at the 2026 T20 World Cup, where he played a central role in India’s campaign. In the semi-final against England, he became the first Indian wicketkeeper-batter to pass 250 runs in a single edition of the tournament.
RCB, meanwhile, enter the season as defending champions after their title win over Punjab Kings last year, while SRH are looking to rebound after finishing sixth on the table.
