RCB and SRH Honor Fans with Tribute Before IPL 2026 Opener
Tribute to Fans Before IPL 2026 Begins
In Bengaluru, Karnataka, as the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season kicks off, players from the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) took a moment to observe a minute of silence. This solemn act was in memory of 11 fans who tragically lost their lives during last year's celebrations at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
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The unfortunate incident occurred during the victory celebrations for RCB's title win last year, resulting in 11 fatalities and numerous injuries due to a stampede outside the stadium. Since June 2025, cricket activities at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium had been on hold.
As they face off against the Hyderabad team in the tournament's opening match, RCB will don black armbands to honor the victims. An official statement from RCB expressed, "Royal Challengers Bengaluru will pay tribute to the eleven members of the RCB family who tragically lost their lives in the unfortunate incident on June 4."
"To show respect, players will wear practice jerseys featuring the number 11 during warm-ups, followed by black armbands during the match."
"Additionally, eleven seats at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium will remain vacant as a permanent tribute to the fans whose steadfast support will always be cherished by the RCB family," the statement concluded.
In the match, Bengaluru won the toss and opted to field against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Ishan Kishan, at 27 years and 253 days, became the second-youngest captain in the franchise's history, following Kane Williamson, who was 27 years and 244 days old in 2018.
The Playing XI for both teams is as follows:
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan(w/c), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma.