Match no. 16 of the IPL 2026 promises to be a blockbuster event as two of the three unbeaten teams remaining in the competition collide in Guwahati.
Table-toppers Rajasthan Royals (RR) will be hosting defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Friday evening at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati, for a mouth-watering clash.
Riyan Parag’s team has recorded three wins in as many games, against CSK, GT, and MI, two of them by significant margins.
The Rajat Patidar-led RCB have also had a thumping start, with big victories over SRH and CSK. And they have done it despite the absence of Josh Hazlewood; one can only assume that RCB could become a scary unit once the lanky Australian is fit.
Is Josh Hazlewood playing today against RR?
Yes, Hazlewood has been declared fit and he will take place of Jacob Duffy in RCB’s XI against RR. Hazlewood has been bowling at full tilt in the nets and is ready to roar.
Meanwhile, RCB have a slender lead over RR in the IPL head-to-head tally, with 17 wins as against 14 for Rajasthan.
RCB vs RR Head-to-head stats:
- Matches: 33
- RCB won: 17
- RR Won: 14
- No result: 2
RCB vs RR Toss Result Today & Its Impact On The Match, Playing XI And Impact Subs:
RR captain Riyan Parag won the toss and elected to bowl first. For RR, Parag named one change: Tushar Deshpande has been rested and in comes Brijesh Sharma.
Patidar, who was also greeted with a huge cheer from the Guwahati crowd, confirmed that Josh Hazlewood is fit and he replaced Duffy.
The toss was delayed by 30 minutes and the start of the game by 45 minutes from its scheduled time due to rain, although no overs were cut. However, the sky opened up once again during the toss event.
RCB Playing XI:
Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Tim David, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Rajat Patidar (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Krunal Pandya, Abhinandan Singh, Romario Shepherd, Josh Hazlewood
Impact Subs: Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam Dar, Kanishk Chouhan, Jacob Bethell, Venkatesh Iyer
RR Playing XI:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag (c), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Jofra Archer, Sandeep Sharma, Nandre Burger, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Bishnoi, Brijesh Sharma
Impact subs: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shubham Dubey, Ravi Singh, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Tushar Deshpande
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