Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will begin their IPL 2026 title defense against the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday, March 28. The franchise has bought big names, including Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Duffy, and Jordan Cox, in their attempt to retain the title.
On the other hand, SRH will be without their regular captain Pat Cummins due to an injury. Ishan Kishan will lead the Orange Army in their first few matches. Unlike RCB, they have invested more in youth, barring Liam Livingstone, for whom they splurged INR13 crore at the IPL 2026 auction.
In this article, we take a look at three players who are likely to emerge as the top scorers in the IPL 2026 opener:
Ishan Kishan
Fresh from his T20 World Cup 2026 heroics, Ishan Kishan will look to lead from the front for SRH in their opening game against RCB. The wicketkeeper-batter emerged as India’s second-highest leading run-getter in the ICC event, amassing 317 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 193.29, including three half-centuries. Since his comeback, he scored 532 runs in 13 T20Is at a strike rate of 207, hitting a ton and four fifties.
In the IPL, Kishan scored 354 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 152.58, comprising one century and a fifty in his debut season for the SunRisers last season. Notably, the 27-year-old smashed an unbeaten 106 on his SRH debut against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2025. The Bihar-born player will be looking for something similar this season. Notably, the SunRisers retained him for a whopping INR11.25 crore ahead of IPL 2026 auction.
Abhishek Sharma
SRH opener Abhishek Sharma is another player with the ability to hit a century in the IPL 2026 season opener against RCB. The World No. 1-ranked T20I batter had an underwhelming T20 World Cup 2026 but smashed 52 off 21 balls against New Zealand when it mattered the most in the final. The 25-year-old will now be looking for redemption with the bat in IPL 2026. The left-handed batter emerged as the second-highest run-getter for the Hyderabad-based franchise last year.
Abhishek amassed 439 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 193.39, comprising one hundred and two fifties. When he goes big, he is tough to stop. The star opener struck 141 off 55 balls against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in IPL 2025. The Kavya Maran co-owned franchise retained him for a whopping INR14 crore at the IPL 2026 auction.
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli is Mr. Dependable for RCB in the tournament’s history. The former captain emerged as the leading run-getter for his franchise, scoring 657 runs in 15 innings at a strike rate of 144.71, including eight half-centuries last year. His consistency helped the Bengaluru-based team end their 17-year title drought by defeating PBKS in the IPL 2025 final. With 8,661 runs in 267 games, the right-handed batter also holds the most runs in the tournament.
Virat loves playing against the SunRisers. The Delhi-born player has scored 805 runs in 24 innings against SRH at a strike rate of 141.98, including one century and five fifties. With eight centuries, he holds the record for the highest number of tons in IPL. On his day, he can prove to be a massive headache for the opposition.
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Edited by James Kuanal