NEW DELHI: Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and chose to bat first against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL 2026 match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday. With both sides already assured of places in the playoffs, the contest promised to be a blend of routine preparation and fine-tuning ahead of the knockout phase. Cummins said his team would focus on building a big total and testing combinations before the finals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll bat first. It\u2019s a long shot to finish in the top two, but we\u2019ll go after it tonight. The plan is to enjoy the evening and also see how well we can execute. We want to try a few things ahead of the finals, then bat first and put up as many runs as possible so we have a total we can defend,\u201d Cummins said at the toss. He added that the qualification arriving before the final league game has been a major positive: \u201cIt\u2019s been really pleasing to secure qualification before this last match. The group has been consistent throughout the year. So this one is probably the last game before we start getting serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the atmosphere at the venue, the Australian praised the support: \u201cThe crowd has been brilliant here at Uppal. The streets are lined up, and the hotels have been busy over the last few days. We\u2019ve also won most of the night games at this ground this season, so hopefully we can finish in a strong way. We\u2019re using the same combination as in the previous match,\u201d Cummins added.<\/p>\n
For RCB, captain Rajat Patidar returned to lead the team after missing the prior fixture against Punjab Kings. Patidar highlighted the importance of maintaining standards regardless of venue and also confirmed the injury update that opened his place back in the XI. \u201cWherever we play, it feels like a home game for us. It doesn\u2019t matter where you are\u2014you\u2019ve got to keep your standards high in every match. You have to tick a lot of boxes. Bethell has a finger injury, and I\u2019m back,\u201d Patidar said at the toss.<\/p>\n
NEW DELHI: Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and chose to bat first against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL 2026 match at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"IPL 2026: Pat Cummins Batting vs RCB in Hyderabad","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Pat Cummins opts to bat as RCB\u2019s Rajat Patidar returns in Hyderabad\u2014SH vs RCB IPL 2026 toss update with playoffs on the line.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n