JioHotstar in India will stream the IPL 2026 match between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders through their app and website
Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Daniel Vettori labelled his side's bowling display against Royal Challengers Bengaluru as "poor", conceding they allowed Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli far too many scoring opportunities in the IPL opener here. After raising 201 for 9 in the season-opener on Saturday, the Hyderabad side could not tackle the marauding Padikkal and Kohli, watching RCB romp home in just 15.4 overs. "You have to get a good start (with the ball), which we did against (Phil) Salt, but then I just think we weren't at our best with the ball. We weren't as disciplined as we needed to be, and we gave a lot of scoring opportunities to Virat and Padikkal, who played exceptionally well," Vettori said in the post-match press conference. "We should have been able to maintain a little bit more (discipline) after getting that important wicket of Salt. So, it was a very good batting performance by RCB and one of our poorer bowling performances," he added. Vettori said SRH had observ
Skipper Rajat Patidar said Royal Challengers Bengaluru have put behind the euphoria of winning the IPL last season, and the team's focus is now simply on "ticking all the boxes" to win another trophy this year. RCB made a rollicking start to IPL 2026, subjugating Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets here on Saturday, but Patidar said they are not viewing this season's campaign particularly as a title defence. "We are not here with the mindset that we have to defend anything, what we did in 2025 has passed. We are here with the mindset that in 2026 we have to tick all the boxes and that will help us win the trophy this year," Patidar said in the post-match press conference. In that context, RCB made a bold tick in three boxes after Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal and Jacob Duffy produced brilliant efforts to anchor the team's win. First, Patidar waxed eloquent on Kohli. "Virat Kohli is a number one chase master, so, I always liked his batting and to watch his batting from the dugout, t
Devdutt Padikkal regally whipped pacer Jaydev Unadkat's full ball on his pads over backward square leg for a six. It was not an unusual sight for a batter for whom flick forms one of the bread and butter shots. But it was unprecedented because Devdutt has seldom hit a six off the first ball. The left-hander tends to settle down before unleashing himself on the bowlers. However, the left-hander shed his linear nature against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 opener here on Saturday, and it was just the beginning. In the next 10 balls he faced, Devdutt produced two more sixes and three fours, racing to 34 in 11 balls, strike-rate hovering over 300. In fact, his 26-ball 61 was representative of the transformation happening to his batting since 2024 or early 2025. In this period, Devdutt has made 543 runs at an average of 60.33 in the Ranji Trophy, 725 runs at 90.62 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and 309 runs at a strike rate of 167.02 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Karnataka coach Y
All praise for Virat Kohli, former off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin says the Indian stalwart continues to "walk the talk" with his unmatched energy and intensity despite having retired from Test and T20I formats. Returning to T20 cricket for the first time since last year's IPL final on June 3, Kohli showed no signs of rust, smashing his 28th IPL half-century (69 not out off 38 balls) to power defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a commanding six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2026 season-opener. "He walks the talk," Ashwin said on a JioHotstar show. "It's almost like he's putting on a show for people to see how the game should be played, play it hard and play it the way it's meant to be played. That stood out for me with respect to what Virat did." Kohli was already in sublime touch coming into the IPL, having scored 93, 23 and 124 in the ODI series against New Zealand in January, where he finished as India's leading run-getter. The 37-year-old had also .
"No words can describe Virat Kohli. When he is in, the team is always in the chase. He is the No. 1 batter," said Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar, following his side's commanding victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 season opener on Saturday. Patidar, who led from the front with 12-ball-31, called it a collective effort while singling out Kohli's chase-defining 38-ball-69 not out and debutant Jacob Duffy's impact with the new ball. Asked if he was happy, Patidar replied: "The way boys played and this was a season opener. Everyone chipped in and did the job. Duffy was playing his first game and the way he played and the wickets he took were the turning point." When asked if RCB would follow Team India's attack at all cost policy, he didn't quite agree. "Not a policy, we assessed the wicket and it was good. Padikkal and Kohli's innings were the base. No words for Virat. The way he goes in, the team is chasing. He is the No. 1 batter." He also praised
The iconic Virat Kohli believed that periodic breaks from the game have helped him stay mentally fresh and avoid burnout, after stroking his 28th IPL half-century at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Saturday. His effort came in RCB's walk-in-the-park six-wicket win against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the lung opener. Kohli, who made a 38-ball-69 with five maximums and equal number of boundaries, showed that stepping away from the game at regular intervals has been crucial in maintaining peak performance despite playing his first T20 match since the IPL final last year. Asked if there is a chance of turning in under prepared since he hasn't played T20 cricket for 10 months, Kohli said: "Well, you know, the kind of scheduling that we've had over the last 15 years and the amount of cricket I've played, for me there was always a risk of getting burnt out rather than being undercooked. So these breaks helped me immensely. I stay fresh, I stay excited." The 37-year-old stressed that he never .
How much cricket is too much cricket? Jos Buttler says it depends completely on an individual and his ability to at times say "no" to some of the T20 franchise league offers which helps in finding the perfect work-life balance. Come September, Buttler, one of England's finest white-ball keeper-batters, will turn 36 but he is still managing his white ball career for England while also plying his trade as a sought-after T20 smasher for the 11th successive season in the cash-rich Indian Premier League. It will be his second season with Gujarat Titans. So has he come to a stage where he might have to choose between club and country? "I am just trying to be very immediate actually with my stuff and just be where my feet are. Look at what's in front of me and play accordingly. Obviously the IPL is the thing right now," Buttler told PTI during an exclusive interaction ahead of team's first match against Punjab Kings on Tuesday. For Buttler, it is important to know what is one's priority
Cameron Green won't be weighed down by his high price tag, says Kolkata Knight Riders coach Shane Watson, noting that the Australian all-rounder prefers to play with absolute freedom. Green, who has played for Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the past, was picked up by KKR for a whopping Rs 25.20 crore in the mini auction. "I've seen players in the past who've had a high price tag on them. I've seen them crumble in the past, that wave of expectations really suffocated their ability to perform at their best," Watson told reporters ahead of KKR's training here at the Wankhede Stadium. "Cameron certainly doesn't see it that way. We've seen with him when he got picked up to play here at MI a couple of years ago for a pretty decent amount of money, he had a very good season." Watson credited Green for having a strong mindset to keep the focus on his game. "That is his mindset when it comes to the IPL, that he's got nothing to lose," he said. "Obviously, that's what pe
Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene believes there is only one way to break the team's 13-year opening-day 'hoodoo' in the IPL: play a good game of cricket. Speaking on Saturday, Jayawardene insisted that despite failing to win a season opener since 2012, the team's preparation remains focused on execution. MI, the perennial slow-starters, last won their opening match in the IPL in April 2012, when they beat Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets. As they gear up to take on three-time winners Kolkata Knight Riders here on Sunday, the very first question Jayawardene took was whether MI would break that jinx this time around. "It is the elephant in the room but there is no way for us to prepare differently," Jayawardene told reporters at the Wankhede Stadium ahead of MI's training session. "If you look at the season that I was involved in, we had close matches, we lost. I think I have spoken to the boys about the intensity being there for that first game. I think that is all
Ishan Kishan, along with Heinrich Klaasen (31 runs off 22 balls), added 97 runs for the fourth wicket to help SRH put a challenging total on the board
KKR have lost their main pacers Harshit Rana and Akash Deep due to injury and are still waiting on the availability update on Matheesha Pathirana, which has depleted their bowling attack
Five-time champions Mumbai Indians have played 90 matches in the IPL at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, out of which they have won 55 matches and lost 34
MI will enter IPL 2026 with a strong and well-rounded squad as they aim to end a five-year title drought
Virat Kohli scripted history in the IPL 2026 opener by becoming the first batter to cross 4,000 runs in run chases in the tournament’s history.
The right-handed batter achieved this historic feat during the IPL 2026 opener between the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
A stunning one-handed catch by Phil Salt to dismiss a rampaging Ishan Kishan proved to be a turning point as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) outclassed Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by six wickets.
Mitchell Starc has lashed out at critics over his delayed arrival for IPL 2026, asserting that his absence at the start of the season is due to injury management and not due to a lack of commitment to Delhi Capitals as some "heavily misinformed" opinions suggested. The left-arm pacer is yet to arrive in India and will miss Delhi Capitals' opening matches, sparking debate around overseas players' commitment to their franchises. Breaking his silence on the growing criticism, Starc said in a statement on Saturday, "Despite the opinions and views of certain individuals with their platforms in and through the Indian media, I'm currently rehabbing and managing an injury in my shoulder and elbow of which I didn't know the extent of during the Australian summer." "These individuals have made some strong statements around involvement in the IPL and provided heavily misinformed opinions of players, preached them as facts, and claim to know my body better than me." The 36-year-old, who grabbe
IPL 2026 HIGHLIGHTS: Virat Kohli, with his brilliant unbeaten 69-run innings vs SRH, became the first batter to score 4000 runs while chasing in IPL
JioHotstar in India will stream the IPL 2026 match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad through its app and website