IPL 2026: Riyan Parag's RR win toss, opt to bowl against CSK

Rajasthan Royals won the toss and chose to bowl first against Chennai Super Kings in their IPL 2026 opener. Captain Riyan Parag cited moisture as the reason. The match also sees Ruturaj Gaikwad lead CSK and features new-look teams.

Rajasthan Royals (RR) won the toss and opted to bowl first against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their first match of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season on Monday at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium here.

After winning the toss, RR Captain Riyan Parag said that the wet conditions from recent rain are the reason he has opted to bowl first. He expressed excitement about captaining the team and praised the strong support, emphasising that the Royals aim to have a successful season. "We are bowling first. There's been a lot of rain. There's going to be some moisture. It feels nice (to be captaining), the support has been incredible. Hopefully, a good campaign for us. The goal is to win the championship. We tried to have a lot of smart cricketers," Riyan Parag said at the toss.

High-Profile Pre-Season Trade

Both Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings were involved in a high-profile trade ahead of this year's IPL auction, where RR traded away Sanju Samson to CSK in exchange for the Chennai-based franchise's players Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran.

New Era for Royals and Super Kings

RR start the new season under the leadership of Riyan Parag, signalling a fresh chapter after the exit of longtime franchise face Sanju Samson. With matches at his home ground, Parag will aim to lead by example as the Royals will look to improve on last season's ninth-place finish.

The five-time champions CSK, after ending last season at the bottom of the table in 2025, will also look to kick off the season strongly as they chase their sixth IPL title under the captaincy of Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Team Lineups

RR and CSK playing 11s: Rajasthan Royals: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (captain), Shimron Hetmyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Brijesh Sharma. RR Impact Subs: Donovan Ferreira, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Sushant Mishra, Tushar Deshpande.

Chennai Super Kings: Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Ayush Mhatre, Matthew Short, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma(w), Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Matt Henry, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed. CSK Impact Subs: Sarfaraz Khan, Prashanth Veer, Rahul Chahar, Gurjapneet Singh, Ramakrishna Ghosh.

(ANI)

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