Why are RCB players wearing black armbands in IPL 2026 opener vs Sunrisers Hyderabad in Bengaluru?
Royal Challengers Bengaluru players wore black armbands vs Sunrisers Hyderabad to honour 11 fans who died during a June 4 celebration tragedy. The tribute included jerseys with “11”, empty seats, and a minute’s silence before the start of the match.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) players wore black armbands during their IPL 2026 opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. The move was to pay honour to the 11 people who lost their lives on June 4 during the team’s trophy celebration and parade in Bengaluru. Earlier, players were also seen in practice jerseys featuring the number 11 as a mark of respect. The franchise also paid tribute by reserving eleven seats in the stadium in memory of the fans.
“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. As a mark of respect, players will wear practice jerseys bearing the number 11 during the warm-up, followed by black armbands during the match. In a lasting gesture of remembrance, eleven seats at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium will remain unoccupied, serving as a permanent tribute to the fans whose unwavering support will always be a part of the RCB family,” a statement from RCB read.
The players and the fans also maintained a one-minute silence before the start of the game in honour of the fans.
RCB win toss, elect to bowl
Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar won the toss and has elected to bowl first. Ishan Kishan, who filled in Cummins’ place as captain, noted that the toss isn’t really something one can control and expects the team to back their instinct and play as per the plan to get over the line.
Feeling good because it’s our first game. We would have bowled first after winning the toss, but it looks like a fresh wicket. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether you’re batting first or bowling first, you just need to back your instincts. That will be the plan. Just trying to keep things simple. You don’t have to start doing something new just because it’s the IPL. The plans are clear with all the players, and we’ll just look to execute them well.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (wk/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 (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma