IPL 2026 Season Has Stared And Here’s the Top News After The First Week 

The 19th edition of the Indian Premier League was long expected, and we have finally witnessed the start of the competition on 28th of March. The top cricket competition in the world kicked off, and we already have plenty of news circling since the start of the 2026 IPL season. The fight to be the best franchise in Indian cricket always provides plenty of stories, and even after a week of playing we have a couple that should interest all fans of cricket. 

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Start The Season in Record Breaking Fashion 

Royal Challengers Bengaluru started the season in fashion. After two rounds RCB has two wins. The team looks poised to retain their crown taken last season. During the opening match they were better than Sunrisers Hyderabad, but that was just the prelude for what came next. Chennai Super Kings felt the full wrath of what Royal Challengers Bengaluru could do this year when batting. CSK had one of the worst bowling performances in the history of the competition. Royal Challengers have posted some amazing numbers that translate well to 250 runs for the loss of 3 wickets, in 20 overs. This is the fourth consecutive win for RCN over Chennai showing that they have a recipe for them. The worst part is that Bengaluru also was able to add 97 runs in the final 5 overs over the innings. In the final 10 overs RCB had 159 runs, also managing to hit 16 sixes. 

Tim David was the top performer on the night, with CSK not being able to answer his aggressive approach to batting. His score was an amazing, unbeaten 70 runs. His 68 runs all came in death overs. No other player has managed to achieve those numbers in death overs before David in an Indian Premier League match. With such performances expected later on in the season, plenty of fans are seeing RCB as one of the top teams in this edition of IPL. The best part is that not all eyes were on the jersey number 18, and RCBs best player, Virat Kohli, meaning that the Royal Challengers Bengaluru could play even better down the stretch. 

MS Dhoni Set To Return

Chennai Super Kings fans are eager to hear some good news. CSK has started the season with three defeats, and their run to the playoffs appears to be as good as over. Yet, some good news is on the horizon. The franchise’s best player in MS Dhoni is set to return to full fitness, and his playing could change the fortunes of the team. Another good news is that Dewald Brevis is also set to return, which could do wonders for the team before their Saturday duel against Delhi Capitals. During his prime, MS Dhoni was the force behind CSKs five title runs, and can certainly make all the difference even today. The team’s medical staff claims that if all tests scheduled for this week go well, he will be starting on Saturday against DC. A calf strain was what kept him from playing in the first three rounds of the 2026 IPL season, and his presence was missed. While his return is much expected by both the fans and his teammates, the team’s officials claim that they will not rush his return. Despite this statement, he is widely expected to feature on Saturday vs. Delhi Capitals and to try to salvage CSKs season. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad Unhappy With Decisions Going Against Them 

Sunrisers Hyderabad are one of the franchises that had a poor start to the year. They have only one win in the first three matches, but they also believe that another defeat could have been avoided if a certain decision had gone their way. The team is prepared to go as far as to write to BCCI to file their grievance and declare their unhappiness with how they were treated during the matches. Their latest loss came in the hands of LSG on the last run of the game. Rishab Pant scored 68 off 50 balls as his team caught up to 157 runs in 19.5 overs. Pant’s winning run was scored as he managed to hit Jaydev Unadkat for a boundary. What caused the in game issue for the SRH franchise is the fact that LSG bowler Avesh Khan hit the ball back in the ground as he was celebrating the win. Fans online on social media platforms claimed that this was a dead ball situation while the officials stance was that with no fielder nearby this situation was not a case of obstructing the field. SRH are not sure that this was the case and are getting ready to write to BCCI about this and a couple of more situations that occurred since the start of the season. 

Ajinkya Rahane Critiques The Critics 

Kolkata Knight Riders are another franchise that has had a poor start to the year, and the critics are slowly showing their faces and are aiming their aim at the team’s captain, Ajinkya Rahane. Sunrisers Hyderabad took home a win last Thursday against the KKR with a 65 runs difference, showing that KKR has plenty of improving to do in the next few matches to have any chance to get to the playoffs. The captain was singled out for critique due to his approach to batting during the named duel. Yet, he was not ready to take none of it. During the post match interview he said: “I think I have one of the best strike rates so far from 2023. People who are talking about me (are) probably not watching the game or they have a certain agenda against me. They don’t like me playing. They don’t like to watch me play.” Despite his response being mostly true, he is not playing at the same level today as he was in the past. The team’s results at the start of the year prove as much. While he was fierce in responding to his critics, he would also be wise to put some of that fire to the field where results are expected of him. 

Hardik Pandya To Start IPL 2026 Duel Against Rajasthan Royals

Mumbai Indians need to get better. The chances are they will elevate their form once Hardik Pandya gets back into the lineup. According to the team’s bowling coach, Paras Mhambrey, Mumbai Indians captain will be available for the ACA Stadium duel on Tuesday against the Rajasthan Royals. According to the sources close to the team he skipped on their last outing due to an illness, but got back to practicing on the nets a few days ago. Due to Pandya not being available, team’s coaches had to make shifts to their line ups, and none of the attempts managed to produce winning cricket. Injuries happen in cricket all the time, and teams do prepare for the worse. Yet, it’s often hard to make up for the absence of players such as Hardik Pandya. An all rounder such as Pandya might be what MI needs when they face the Rajasthan Royals, a team that has started the season in fashion recording two wins after two rounds. 

Sunil Narine & Varun Chakravarthy to Miss KKR vs. PBKS

The duel between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings was put on hold due to massive rain. But even before that happened, the two teams weren’t playing on an even field. Sunil Narine & Varun Chakravarthy were both out of the KKRs playing eleven before their duel with PBKS. According to the team’s captain, Ajinkya Rahane, the two men were out due to health reasons. While Varun Chakravarthy got injured during the KKRs last duel, Sunil Narine got sick between the matches and was a surprise omission just hours before the game started. As if the season wasn’t as bad to date, with two losses in the two opening matches, Kolkata Knight Riders now have to face an injury crisis which could easily result in three defeats at the start of the year. At the same time, the PBKS team kicked off the year strongly with two wins in two matches, showing that the last year’s results were no fluke. If KKR is to win this duel, if a continuation happens, their backups will have to do wonders to replace Sunil Narine & Varun Chakravarthy. 

Prashant Veer Misused by CSK

Chennai Super Knights are having one of the worst starts to the IPL season in recent memory. Three defeats in three duels are not too promising when it comes to the rest of the season. The team that has won five titles in the past are nowhere near the glory of the old days. One of the main reasons why they are not performing up to the standards set in the past may be the fact that they spent a lot during the auction for Prashant Veer, and are not using the player in the right way at the moment. In addition to Green, MS Dhoni is currently not playing, while Sanju Samson is failing to make the desired impact. The team’s captain Ruturaj Gaikwad is facing a lot of criticism with most of it being directed at the misuse of Prashant Veer. Veer was picked up at the auction for Rs 14.2 crore with the idea being that he will replace the leaving Ravindra Jadeja. The most expensive uncapped IPL player of all time has yet to make an appearance for CSK. So, not only is the team not playing well, and the losses are piling up, CSK also has failed to make the best of their winter acquisitions. 

Orange Cap Leaderboard

While it is still too early to single out the frontrunner to win the Orange Cap this season, we do have an interesting name leading the race at the moment. The man at the top at this moment is Sameer Rizvi. Last year he had 121 runs, and the year before that only 51. This year, he has started tremendously threatening to break all of his previous records. The Delhi Capitals batter was the leading force for his team during the last two duels where he was a force to be reckoned with in the chase. During the duel with LSG he had 70 runs from 47 balls, while against the Mumbai Indians he held onto 90 from 51. He also won the MOTM award in both duels. With 160 runs he is the current leader for the Orange Cap. Behind him, we have the likes of Heinrich Klaasen with 145 for SRH, and the legendary Rohit Sharma with 113. With the season still young we can expect plenty of changes at the top of the leaderboard, but we are sure that Sameer Rizvi is enjoying every moment spent at the top. 

Sanju Samson Ripped Apart by Fans

Sanju Samson’s move from Rajasthan Royals to Chennai Super Knights was meant to change the fortunes of both franchises. A lot was expected from Samson among the CSKs fans, and so far he has failed to deliver, well, almost anything. The fans have noticed that he is looking disconnected since making the move heaping a lot of criticism his way. Considering that Sanju Samson was one of the best players in India’s team that has won the T20 World Cup 2026 his poor performances in the 2026 IPL season are even harder to explain. So far, he has only scored 22 runs, and his team has three losses to open the year. The fans are left shocked as he was instrumental for India but cannot find his footing only a few weeks later. His attitude is described as disconnected, and fans plead for him to step aside if he is not prepared to give it his best. With the way the team is playing at the moment, moving him to the bench might prove a wise decision. On the other hand, he was also poor at the start of the World Cup, not playing at all, only to be unstoppable once he was fully focused on what he does best. Maybe Samson just needs a tad bit more time.