IPL 2026 Today's Match: RR vs CSK playing 11, batters vs bowlers matchups
CSK enter IPL 2026 opener with injury concerns: Ellis out, Dhoni sidelined for two weeks with calf strain, and Brevis ruled out of RR clash with side strain.
The inaugural champions, Rajasthan Royals (RR), kick off their campaign in IPL 2026 today at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati as they host five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Rajasthan Royals skipper Riyan Parag won the toss for the match and invited Ruturaj Gaikwad-led CSK to bat first. After finishing as the bottom two teams in the points table, both RR and CSK will be looking for a key turnaround this season.
IPL 2026: RR vs CSK playing 11: RR playing 11: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Brijesh Sharma Impact players: Donovan Ferreira, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Sushant Mishra, Tushar Deshpande CSK playing 11: Sanju Samson (WK), Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Ayush Mhatre, Matthew Short, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Matt Henry, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed Impact players: Sarfaraz Khan, Prashanth Veer, Rahul Chahar, Gurjapneet Singh, Ramakrishna Ghosh
RR will have a strong batting line-up to boast, just like in IPL 2025, and with the addition of players like Ravindra Jadeja and Dasun Shanaka, they will hope to overcome their middle-order concerns. While RR’s pace bowling looks complete, they may have some trouble finding the right combination in the spin department.
CSK, on the other hand, look slightly unsettled due to injuries and squad changes. They first lost the services of Nathan Ellis due to a hamstring injury before MS Dhoni got sidelined for the first two weeks due to a calf strain and Dewald Brevis was ruled out of the RR clash due to side strain a day before the match. However, CSK still have a good batting and spin attack to lead them this season; their only concern will be who to rely on as the death bowler.
But before the two sides finally take the ground, let’s take a look at the captaincy records of both skippers, their expected playing 11 combinations and key player match-ups for the game.
Riyan Parag’s captaincy record in IPL (RR)
- Matches: 8
- Wins: 2
- Losses: 6
- N/R: 0
- Win percentage: 25%
Ruturaj Gaikwad's captaincy record in IPL (CSK)
- Matches: 19
- Wins: 8
- Losses: 11
- N/R: 0
- Win percentage: 42.10%
RR squad for IPL 2026:
Aman Rao, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira, Lhuan de Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Riyan Parag (C), Dasun Shanaka, Adam Milne, Brijesh Sharma, Jofra Archer, Kuldeep Sen, Kwena Maphaka, Nandre Burger, Ravi Bishnoi, Sandeep Sharma, Sushant Mishra, Tushar Deshpande, Vignesh Puthur, Yash Punja, Yudhvir Charak
CSK squad for IPL 2026:
Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brevis, Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Sarfaraz Khan, Kartik Sharma, MS Dhoni, Sanju Samson, Urvil Patel, Aman Khan, Anshul Kamboj, Jamie Overton, Matthew Short, Prashant Veer, Shivam Dube, Zak Foulkes, Akeal Hosein, Gurjapneet Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Matt Henry, Mukesh Choudhary, Spencer Johnson, Noor Ahmad, Rahul Chahar, Ramkrishna Ghosh, Shreyas Gopal
IPL 2026: RR vs CSK key player battles
RR batters vs CSK bowlers
| Batter | Bowler | Runs | Balls | Outs | Dots | 4s | 6s | SR | Avg |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | Khaleel Ahmed | 58 | 28 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 207.1 | 29 |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | Rahul Chahar | 22 | 18 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 122.2 | 22 |
| Riyan Parag | Khaleel Ahmed | 31 | 24 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 129.1 | 15.5 |
| Shimron Hetmyer | Khaleel Ahmed | 44 | 27 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 163 | 44 |
| Shimron Hetmyer | Rahul Chahar | 36 | 29 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 124.1 | 18 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | Khaleel Ahmed | 18 | 17 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 105.9 | 18 |
| Dhruv Jurel | Khaleel Ahmed | 12 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 133.3 | 12 |
CSK batters vs RR bowlers
| Batter | Bowler | Runs | Balls | Outs | Dots | 4s | 6s | SR | Avg |
| Sanju Samson | Jofra Archer | 72 | 48 | 3 | 18 | 6 | 3 | 150 | 24 |
| Sanju Samson | Sandeep Sharma | 65 | 44 | 2 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 147.7 | 32.5 |
| Ruturaj Gaikwad | Sandeep Sharma | 54 | 41 | 2 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 131.7 | 27 |
| Ruturaj Gaikwad | Jofra Archer | 39 | 28 | 2 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 139.2 | 19.5 |
| Shivam Dube | Sandeep Sharma | 41 | 26 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 157.7 | 41 |
| Shivam Dube | Ravindra Jadeja | 28 | 23 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 121.7 | 28 |