The schedule of the first 20 matches of IPL 2026 has been revealed, the first match of which will be played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad (RCB vs SRH). This means Virat Kohli will play the first match of IPL 2026. RCB is the defending champion of the Indian Premier League and Virat’s team would like to maintain its winning streak.
Fans of MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma will also be eager to see them in action. On one hand, Virat will be seen in action on the first day of the season. Know here when Dhoni and Rohit will play their first match?
When is the first match of Dhoni and Rohit?
Rohit Sharma was retained by Mumbai Indians for IPL 2026 for Rs 16.30 crore. Mumbai Indians will play their first match in IPL 2026 on March 29 against Kolkata Knight Riders in Mumbai. Rohit Sharma can also be seen in action on March 29 only.
On the other hand, if we talk about MS Dhoni, Chennai Super Kings had retained him for Rs 4 crore. CSK’s first match will be with Rajasthan Royals on March 30 in Guwahati. MS Dhoni can also be seen playing in this match.
Rohit Sharma was last seen playing in the ODI series against New Zealand. He was able to score only 61 runs in the three-match ODI series. After that ‘Hitman’ will be seen playing a competitive match for the first time. Rohit had scored 418 runs in IPL 2025 after playing 15 matches. Last season, 4 fifties came from his bat.
On the other hand, MS Dhoni now plays only in IPL. Dhoni had scored a total of 196 runs in the last season. His performance in IPL 2025 was disappointing and his highest score was 30 runs. Virat had scored 657 runs in the entire season for last season’s champion RCB.
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A new problem has emerged on the schedule of IPL 2026, there is an uproar over the first RCB vs SRH match of the season.
