excitement of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 fever reaches its peak Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) competes against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) In the high-stakes 67th match of the tournament. Set against the vibrant backdrop of Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium on Friday, this blockbuster encounter features two veteran teams who have already sealed their place in the playoffs. With table position and significant momentum on the line, fans packed the stadium in anticipation of a run-fest on Uppal’s historically flat deck. However, just before the toss, a big news from the team surprised everyone: RCB’s promising young all-rounder, Jacob Bethel, Was missing from the lineup.
Why is Jacob Bethel not playing against SRH in today’s match?
This important encounter put an end to the mystery surrounding Bethel’s absence Rajat PatidarWho took the responsibility of captaincy for RCB during the toss. Patidar revealed that Bethel is out of the clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad due to a fresh finger injury. Young English cricketer, who was entrusted with the task of opening the innings with Virat Kohli after the shock of previous injury Phil SaltThis unexpected hurdle was faced just before the final league stage match.
Despite the sudden change, Patidar expressed confidence about RCB’s huge squad depth and their mentality going into the match. When asked what the team wanted to achieve from this particular game, Patidar stressed on the tireless work ethic, noting that where a team stands in the points table is irrelevant as matching specific standards for each match is a requirement. He also highlighted that injuries are always difficult to manage in a highly competitive tournament like the IPL, especially when the aim is to win the championship. Fortunately for RCB, this is their only major active injury concern, allowing Patidar to ease himself back into the playing eleven as a direct replacement for Bethel.
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Playing XI and impressive options of both the teams
captain of sunrisers hyderabad pat cummins Won the toss at their home ground and chose to bat first, aiming to post a big score to boost their net run rate and finish in the top-two. Both teams entered this high-octane battle with powerful, balanced squads suited for the batting-friendly Hyderabad surface.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (captain), Venkatesh Iyer, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar KumarJosh Hazlewood, Suyyash Sharma, Rasikh Salaam 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, Ishan Malinga, Saqib Hussain.
In order to strategically change their team dynamics as the match progresses, both strategists named a deep bench of substitute substitutes.
Royal Challengers Bangalore Impact Subscription: Tim David, Kanishk Chauhan, Swapnil Singh, Abhinandan Singh, Jordan Cox.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Impact Subscription: Prafulla Hinge, Aniket Verma, Liam Livingstone, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel.
Also read: Top 5 players with most scores of more than 50 in IPL history, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli
