Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will begin their 2026 Indian Premier League campaign by taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the tournament opener - here’s the full IPL schedule and match timings for RCB.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru broke their 18-year winless drought by claiming the title in 2025. Playing Punjab Kings in the summit clash, RCB clinched a six-run win to register a memorable victory.
The scenes that followed were less joyous: Their victory parade resulted in the loss of 11 lives during a stampede, following which the Karnataka government barred the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium from hosting matches. However, Bengaluru will host the IPL 2026 opener, after missing out on hosting any games in the Women’s World Cup and the Men’s T20 World Cup.
The IPL governing body is yet to release the complete schedule for the upcoming season due to elections in three states. Hence, only games till April 12 have been announced for now. RCB are not scheduled to play an afternoon game (beginning at 3.30 pm local time) in the first phase of the fixtures.
Find the full schedule of the IPL 2026 here.
RCB schedule for IPL 2026: Full fixtures list, match timings and venues
The schedule for the first four RCB games has been released so far - two at home and two away.
March 28: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, Bengaluru - 7:30 PM
April 5: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Chennai Super Kings, Bengaluru - 7:30 PM
April 10: Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Guwahati - 7:30 PM
April 12: Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Mumbai - 7:30 PM
IPL 2026: Full RCB squad and signings
New signings: Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Duffy, Satvik Deswal, Mangesh Yadav, Jordan Cox, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra and Kanishk Chouhan.
Retained players: Rajat Patidar (captain), Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nuwan Thushara, Rasikh Salam, Abhinandan Singh, Suyash Sharma.
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