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

NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli and Royal Challengers Bengaluru began their defense of the Indian Premier League title with quiet enthusiasm against Ishan Kishan and Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday.

Bengaluru’s build-up to the latest IPL start has been marred since June with the deaths of 11 fans in a stampede outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium during the team’s victory march. It took months for Bengaluru to get permission from state authorities to host IPL matches and state cricket authorities will honor the dead by leaving 11 seats in the stadium permanently vacant.

74 matches will be played in the league, which includes 10 teams, and the final will be played on May 31.

The tournament is shaped like this.

Can Bengaluru repeat? Three-time finalists Bengaluru clinched their first title of 2025 on the back of bowling led by Australian seamer Josh Hazlewood. Hazlewood has not played since November and is trying to overcome hamstring and Achilles problems that forced him to miss the Ashes and Twenty20 World Cup. In his absence, medium pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and spinner Krunal Pandya will take the responsibility. Medium-pacer Yash Dayal is also not included in the squad due to sexual assault allegations. Kohli leads the batting line-up with foreign flavors in Phil Salt and Jacob Bethell. Only twice have they won back-to-back titles – Chennai Super Kings in 2010-11 and Mumbai Indians in 2019-20.

Chennai or Mumbai’s resurgence? Chennai and Mumbai are at the top with a total of 10 titles and 16 final appearances in 18 IPLs, but Chennai has not won since 2023 and Mumbai has not won since 2020.

India’s T20 World Cup star Sanju Samson was Chennai’s headline acquisition as he was acquired from Rajasthan Royals. Samson was the MVP of India’s third T20 World Cup victory and with Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s influence waning, this looks like his time. While Chennai let go of long-time all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran, they also added young guns Ayush Mhatre and Kartik Sharma to the squad comprising skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, Dewald Brevis and Shivam Dube.

Mumbai’s two play-off performances in the last five seasons are not good enough for a team of its calibre. Hardik Pandya, who finished fourth last season, leads a squad that includes big names like Jasprit Bumrah, India’s last two T20 World Cup-winning captains in Suryakumar Yadav (2026) and Rohit Sharma (2024), Proteas wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock, all-rounder 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 frontrunners to end the drought. Punjab did well in retaining their 2025 core under the guidance of Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting. Iyer is the only IPL captain to guide three teams to the final. Last season he scored 604 runs at a strike rate of 175. Vice-captain Shashank Singh says: “We couldn’t get over the last hurdle (in 2025) and everyone is coming this year… more excited, more motivated.”

Delhi Capitals, once finalists, won five of their first six matches last season but lost momentum. They need to find the most suitable opening partner for Lokesh Rahul. Lucknow SuperGiants will be donning new colors again. Rishabh Pant’s team has switched from light blue to dark blue and red this season; this is a symbol of his ongoing quest to find his true identity.

Curious kid Kishan is managing Hyderabad until Australia’s Pat Cummins gets fit again. Cummins is expected to play in the second half of the season. Hyderabad will rely on strong batsmen like Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma to compensate for the bowling.

Ajinkya Rahane’s Kolkata Knight Riders are already in trouble as they are missing out on many first-choice bowling options. Pacers Harshit Rana and Akash Deep are missing this season. The mercurial Andre Russell is gone and Cameron Green is coming off the T20 World Cup in which he picked up one wicket and 24 runs.

India test and ODI captain Shubman Gill leads the Gujarat Titans. The Ahmedabad-based team missed the play-offs only once. “If you look at the last few seasons, I have the most IPL runs. I don’t think I have anything to prove, especially this season,” says Gill.

Rajasthan finished second from last in 2025 but the spotlight will be on wonderkid Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who turns 15 on Friday. He stunned the cricket world with a 35-ball hundred against Gujarat Titans last year. His extraordinary talent grew even further. With Samson gone, Suryavanshi became the present and future of Rajasthan.