Kohli’s Bengaluru Begin IPL Title Defense In Somber Mood Following Victory Parade Deaths

NEW DELHI : Virat Kohli and Royal Challengers Bengaluru begin the defense of their Indian Premier League crown with muted enthusiasm against Ishan Kishan and Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday. Bengaluru’s buildup to launching the latest IPL has been overshadowed since June by the deaths of 11 fans in a stampede outside Chinnaswamy Stadium during the team’s victory parade. It took months for Bengaluru to receive permission from state authorities to host IPL matches, and state cricket officials will honor the dead by leaving 11 seats in the stadium permanently empty. The 10-team league spans 74 matches, culminating in the final on May 31. Here’s how the tournament shapes up. Can Bengaluru repeat? Bengaluru, a three-time finalist, broke through with its first title in 2025 on the back of bowling led by Australia seamer Josh Hazlewood. Hazlewood hasn’t played since November and is still recovering from hamstring and Achilles issues that forced him to miss the Ashes and the Twenty20 World Cup. In his absence, medium-pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and spinner Krunal Pandya will shoulder the responsibility. Medium-pacer Yash Dayal is also absent owing to sexual assault allegations. Kohli heads the batting lineup with foreign flavor from Phil Salt and Jacob Bethell. Back-to-back titles have been achieved only twice by Chennai Super Kings in 2010-11 and Mumbai Indians in 2019-20. Chennai or Mumbai resurgence? Chennai and Mumbai dominate with a combined 10 titles and 16 final appearances in 18 IPLs but Chennai hasn’t won since 2023 and Mumbai not since 2020. India’s T20 World Cup star Sanju Samson is Chennai’s headline purchase, acquired from Rajasthan Royals. Samson was the MVP in India’s third T20 World Cup triumph and it would seem to be his time as Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s influence fades. Chennai let go of long-time allrounders Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran while also adding young guns Ayush Mhatre and Kartik Sharma to a lineup including skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, Dewald Brevis and Shivam Dube. Mumbai’s two playoff appearance in the last five seasons are not good enough for a franchise of its caliber. After finishing fourth last season, Hardik Pandya leads a squad bursting with big names such as Jasprit Bumrah, India’s last two T20 World Cup-winning captains in Suryakumar Yadav (2026) and Rohit Sharma (2024), Proteas wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock, allrounder Shardul Thakur, and hard-hitting West Indian Sherfane Rutherford. Another first-time winner? Three teams have never won the IPL and Punjab Kings, the 2025 runners-up, are the front-runners to end their drought. With Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting as guides, Punjab did well to retain its 2025 core. Iyer is the only IPL captain to guide three teams to the final. He scored 604 runs at a strike rate of 175 last season. Vice captain Shashank Singh says, “We didn’t cross that last hurdle (in 2025) and everyone is coming this year … more pumped up, more motivated.” Delhi Capitals, a one-time finalist, won five of its first six games last season only to lose momentum. They need to find an optimal opening partner for Lokesh Rahul. Lucknow SuperGiants will don new colors — again. Rishabh Pant’s team has gone from light blue to dark blue to red this season, a symbol of its ongoing search for its true identity. Boy wonder Kishan is leading Hyderabad until Australia’s Pat Cummins is fit again. Cummins is expected to play in the season’s second half. Hyderabad will rely on power-hitting from the likes of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma to make up for the bowling. Ajinkya Rahane’s Kolkata Knight Riders are already in trouble, though, missing many first-choice bowling options. Pacers Harshit Rana and Akash Deep are out for the season. The mercurial Andre Russell has gone and Cameron Green is coming off a T20 World Cup where he collected one wickets and 24 runs. India test and ODI captain Shubman Gill leads Gujarat Titans. The Ahmedabad-based team has missed out on the playoffs only once. Gill says, “If you look at the past few seasons I have the most IPL runs. I don’t think I have anything to prove this season in particular.” Rajasthan was second to last in 2025 but will draw eyeballs on boy wonder Vaibhav Suryavanshi , who turned 15 on Friday. He amazed the cricketing world last year with a 35-ball hundred against Gujarat Titans. His prodigious talent has only grown further. With Samson gone, Suryavanshi has become the present and future for Rajasthan.



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