New Delhi: Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klassen And Ishan Kishan Sunrisers Hyderabad have been the driving force behind Hyderabad’s impressive IPL 2026 campaign. The trio displayed SRH’s trademark fearless brand of batting throughout the tournament and scored consecutive runs.During SRH’s IPL 2026 clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the Hyderabad-based franchise achieved a major milestone. Abhishek, Klaasen and Kishan became only the second batsmen in IPL history to score more than 500 runs in a single season from the same team.The SRH trio joined the elite list after Shibman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler achieved feats for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2025.Klaasen has been SRH’s highest run-scorer this season, scoring over 550 runs at an average above 50.Explosive opener Abhishek has also crossed the 550-run mark in IPL 2026, scoring at an astonishing strike rate of over 200.Kishan, who captained SRH during the initial phase of the tournament before regular skipper Pat Cummins resumed the leadership duties, has crossed the 500-run mark this season as well.Already in the playoffs, Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and elected to bat first against RCB.RCB welcomed back captain Rajat Patidar, who replaced the injured Jacob Bethel in the only change to the playing XI, while SRH retained the same combination from their previous match.SRH skipper Cummins admitted that finishing in the top two was a long shot, but said the team wanted to give themselves the best possible chance by building a big total.RCB are currently sitting on 18 points from nine wins in 13 matches, while SRH have 16 points from as many games. A win for Hyderabad will keep alive their hopes of climbing to the second position based on net run rate.“I think it’s a long shot to finish top two, but we just want to give it a crack. Want the guys to enjoy tonight,” Cummins said at the toss.SRH’s decision to bat first was well considered, with the Hyderabad surface looking dry and even, offering constant bounce and carry – ideal conditions for stroke play and aggressive batting.Playing XI:Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (wicket), Henrik Klaasen, Salil Arora, R Simran, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins (capt), Shivang Kumar, Ishan Malinga, Saqib Hussain.Impact Substitutes: Aniket Verma, Parful Henge, Liam Livingstone, Harsh Dubey, Harshal PatelRoyal Challengers Bengaluru: Venkatesh Iyer, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikal, Rajat Patidar (captain), Jitesh Sharma (wicket), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashikh Salam, Suyash Sharma, Josh HazlewoodImpact Subs: Tim David, Kanishk Chauhan, Swapnal Singh, Abhinandan Singh, Jordan Cox.
