RCB vs SRH Prediction: Can defending champs get off to winning start?

The 19th season of the Indian Premier League gets underway on Saturday afternoon (15:00, Sky Sports Main Event), as the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru host the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. 

But can Rajat Patidar's side get off to a winning start in front of their adoring fans? We take a look all the latest team news, odds and give you our RCB vs SRH Prediction. 

Check out all our IPL Betting Odds over at betfred.com

Team News

Royal Challengers Bengalaru

Australian star pace bowler Josh Hazlewood looks likely to miss at least the two opening games for RCB following his recovery from an Achilles injury. However, there is an almost like-for-like replacement in the form of New Zealander Jacob Duffy.

Meanwhile it looks like England's new golden boy Jacob Bethell will have to wait for his opportunity to shine here, as will 2025 Hundred MVP Jordan Cox, although either could be selected to shine as an impact player.

Predicted line up: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salam Dar, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma

Sunrisers Hyderabad

In an almost direct comparison to Hazlewood, Australia's test captain Pat Cummins will also be unavailable for Hyderabad with continuing back issues and the side will be led by Ishan Kishan. The left-hander played a key role in India's recent T20 World Cup victory and along with Sharma, will lead a strong batting line up that goes right up to Brydon Carse at number eight.

Predicted line up: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(c, wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Liam Livingstone, Aniket Verma, Brydon Carse, Jaydev Unadkat, Harshal Patel, Shivam Mavi

Pitch and Conditions:

The wicket at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru is usually a high-scoring one, with short boundaries and a flat surface to bat on.

RCB vs SRH Odds

The Royal Challengers come into this opening fixture as the slight 4/5 favourites, with the Sunrisers a tough bigger at even money. Virat Kohli (12/5) and Abhishek Sharma (11/4) are the favourites to top score for their respective teams.

Both teams to score 180+ runs @ 10/11

Games between these two are notoriously high-scoring, in particular the last game between the franchises on this very ground, with Sunrisers smashing 287 and RCB falling just short with 262, which set a record total for most runs scored in an IPL match.

Both sides look to be missing their best bowling option in the Aussie pair of Hazlewood and Cummins, which should allow the opening pairs of Salt and Kohli and Head and Sharma to tee off from ball one.

M. Chinnaswamy Stadium hasn't hosted any cricket since the tragic events of last June when 11 people were trampled to death in the riotous celebrations following RCB's title win. This should mean the pitch is fresh as a daisy and when combined with the short boundaries, that only spells one thing. Chaos.

I'm expecting another run fest here in Bengaluru...