IPL 2026: Delhi Capitals Opt to Bowl Against RCB at Chinnaswamy

Bengaluru, April 2026 : Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel won the toss and elected to bowl first against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Match 26 of the Indian Premier League 2026 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday. Both teams fielded unchanged playing XIs for the afternoon clash.

RCB have enjoyed a strong start to their title defence, winning four of their first five matches, while Delhi Capitals entered the contest after a week-long break, looking to snap a two-match losing streak. Speaking after the toss, Axar Patel cited conditions as a key factor behind his decision.

“The wicket looks nice and hard. Since it’s a day game, it might be a bit slow. Also, Chinnaswamy is usually a chasing ground, so we would like to chase,” he said.

Reflecting on the mid-season break, Axar added that it came at the right time for his side. “If you’re winning, a break can disrupt momentum. But since we lost the last two matches, it helped us regroup. We are back together as a unit and ready to start fresh. We’re focusing on our strengths and sticking to our plans,” he noted.

In a light-hearted pre-match moment, RCB captain Rajat Patidar presented a small token to Axar before the toss, as part of the franchise’s annual ‘Green Initiative’. RCB donned their iconic green jerseys to promote environmental awareness and sustainability.

Patidar expressed confidence in batting first on what appeared to be a good surface. “We were planning to bat first. It’s a day game and looks like a good track, so we want to put up a solid total and apply pressure,” he said. Highlighting the significance of home matches, he added, “There has been a lot of planning. With the final scheduled here this season, it’s important for us to win all our home games.”

Weather conditions for the match were hot and dry, typical of a Bengaluru afternoon, with a slight breeze and scattered cloud cover. The relatively short square boundaries—measuring around 65 and 64 metres—combined with a 73-metre straight boundary, suggested a potentially high-scoring encounter, though the dry surface could also aid spinners as the game progresses.

Pitch analysts Pommie Mbangwa and Faf du Plessis observed that the surface looked similar to the previous match but slightly drier with less grass cover. They predicted that, being a day game, the pitch might slow down over time, bringing spin bowlers into play.

Teams:

Delhi Capitals: Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul (wk), Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel (c), David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Auqib Nabi Dar, Lungi Ngidi, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood

With both teams evenly matched and conditions expected to evolve through the game, an intriguing contest is on the cards in Bengaluru.