Rajasthan Royals (RR) won the toss and opted to field first in the 21st match of IPL 2026 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. RR made two changes in their playing XI and decided to rest Shimron Hetmyer. Lhuan-dre Pretorius is making his IPL debut for RR. They dropped pacer Brijesh Sharma and brought back Tushar Deshpande. “We’ll be bowling first. A new wicket for us, first time it’s been used this season as well. So hopefully there’s a little bit of stickiness at the start. We’ve chased down a lot of totals here,” RR captain Riyan Parag said at the toss.
“We fell short in 2024, so hopefully not the case this time. We’ve got two changes. Brijesh steps out and Tushar Deshpande comes in. Hetty gets a rest and Pretorius makes his debut. It’s been a journey. I was under (Sanju Samson) Bhaiya for the longest time, and then Sangaa did really well in improving me with all the decisions and involved me in all the tactical and strategic meetings. Now I think I’ve taken the onus up. Had to make a lot of tough calls, but happy to be here,” he added.
SRH also made two changes in their playing XI and dropped Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat. “We have got two changes from the last game, Hinge coming in. I think I’ve been doing this for a long time. I was a leader in Under-19 India, I’ve been doing it for my state team, and I think it makes you more aware of the situation, more focused on the game,” SRH captain Ishan Kishan said.
RR top points table
RR are undefeated in IPL 2026 and they have won all four matches so far. They sit in the top position and will end the day as the top-placed team, irrespective of the result of today’s fixture. SRH have 1 win from 4 matches and sit in the seventh spot in the points table. They need a win at this stage to avoid an early exit.
Here are playing XIs of both teams –
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Ishan Kishan (Captain), Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Praful Hinge, Eshan Malinga.
Rajasthan Royals: Riyan Parag (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Tushar Deshpande.
