"It's an afternoon game here at the Chinnaswamy. I tell you what, it's so hot. I spotted a few clouds, actually, and there's a slight breeze. The hope is that it'll still be on when this one begins. Let's get to the dimensions. Sixes galore here and more in the middle this time around. No real bias, just one metre in terms of square hitting (65m and 64m). And 73m down the ground. That's not a lot for these guys these days. Now, look at the surface. Again, I'll say it looks good. Looks very similar to the previous wicket they've played on here, a little bit drier, a little bit less grass. And obviously because it's a day game, expect it to be a bit slower. Expect the spinners to come into it," reckon Pommie Mbangwa and Faf du Plessis.

This is Royal Challengers Bengaluru's 100th game at M Chinnaswamy Stadium - the first team to feature in 100 games at a venue in the IPL. The second on the list is KKR with 98 IPL games at Eden Gardens.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood.

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul(w), Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel(c), David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Auqib Nabi Dar, Lungi Ngidi, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar.

"I am happy because we wanted to bat first. We'll look to post a good total on the board. We have this (green) jersey to encourage. We are playing with the same side," said RCB skipper Rajat Patidar. 

"I am going to bowl first. The wicket looks nice and hard. Since it’s a day game, it might be a bit slow. Also, Chinnaswamy is usually a chasing ground, so we would like to chase. That’s why we decided to bowl first. We are going with the same XI. (On having a long break) If you’re winning, the break would be bad. But since we lost the last two matches, the break helped us regroup. Now we are back together as a unit and ready to start with fresh momentum. Obviously we are looking at the opposition but we are focusing on our own strengths and sticking to our plans. We'll follow our plans and see what happens," said DC skipper Axar Patel. 

Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel wins the toss, opts to bowl against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL 2026 match on Saturday. 

A great news for all the RCB fans out there as Virat Kohli seems to be fit. Kohli, who played as an impact player in the previous game, can be seen practising without any bandage support and looking very fit. Hopefully, he will be out there to field as well. 

Ready.
Set.
Goooooo.
Bright skies above and our Royal Challengers are enroute to ನಮ್ಮChinnaswamy for our ‘only home day game’ of the season.#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2026 #RCBvDC pic.twitter.com/8DjqoYoJcO

— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) April 18, 2026

Skipper Axar Patel too has been a big letdown this season, managing just three wickets and as many runs across four matches. Similarly, inconsistency plagues them in bowling too. Star left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav looks totally out of sorts having taken just three wickets after leaking nearly 10 runs an over, while pacers Mukesh Kumar and T Natarajan's good moments have been few and far between.

Delhi Capitals are still searching for capable shoulders to scaffold their batting. They have some experienced batters such as KL Rahul, Pathum Nissanka, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller and Nitish Rana but none of them have been consistent so far, and even a fifth place on the table with four points looks like an exaggeration at this point.

Virat Kohli only played as an Impact Player in the last game. There isn't absolute clarity on his role for the franchise for the Delhi match. Here's what Josh Hazlewood said on Kohli:

As RCB players arrive on the field for their 100th home game at Chinnaswamy, they will be wearing the alternate green jerseys as part of their 'Green Initiative'. The Bengaluru side is currently second in the points table, with just one loss from the first five games.

The clash against the Delhi Capitals for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be the 100th game at the M Chinnaswamy stadium. No other IPL team has managed to play 100 games in its home venue yet, with RCB becoming the first one to do so!

Focus has largely remained on Virat Kohli, and the batting talisman has not disappointed his fans either, holding the Orange Cap for the time being. But even Kohli would acknowledge that the RCB batting no longer solely depends on him. Skipper Rajat Patidar, Devdutt Padikkal, Phil Salt and Tim David have all left their indelible marks on RCB's victories this season.

Almost a month into IPL 2026, Royal Challengers Bengaluru have evolved into the most complete unit in the competition and they will be eager to strengthen their hold on this tag when they face the struggling Delhi Capitals. 

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the IPL 2026 match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals, straight from the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Stay tuned for all the live updates.