In the first match of the double-header Saturday on April 18, the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are hosting Delhi Capitals (DC) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Although both teams are coming off contrasting results in their previous fixtures, they will be vying to go all out and get a win under their belt. But just hours prior to the clash, the Bengaluru-based franchise confirmed to don their green jerseys, a tradition which has been followed since 2011.
As confirmed earlier, the men from Bengaluru took the field in their green jersey as a part of their long-standing ‘Green Inititaive’. Under this, they aim to advocate for environmental sustainability and ecological conservation. Moreover, as the name suggests, the jersey are based on sustainable engineering and a re crafted from recycled plastic waste collected from the stadium.
While they first donned this green jersey in 2011 during their IPL game against the now-defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala, it is the 16th time that they are donning it. Speaking of the stats in this, RCB have come out victorious only in 5 matches since then and lost 9 while one was abandoned. RCB’s previous win in green jersey came in IPL 2025, when they defeated Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur.
RCB’s record in green jersey in IPL history
| Details | Stat |
|---|---|
| Matches played | 15 |
| Won | 5 |
| Lost | 9 |
| No Result | 1 |
| Won by team batting first | 5 |
| Won by team batting second | 9 |
| Highest total | 248/3 vs Gujarat Lions in IPL 2016 |
| Lowest total | 92/10 vs Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2021 |
DC opt to bowl vs RCB in green initiative game in IPL 2026
On Saturday, when the two skippers in Rajat Patidar (RCB) and Axar Patel took the field, the latter won the toss and elected to bowl first. As a result, the defending champions, who are second in the IPL 2026 standings with 4 wins and one defeat, were put to bat first. Like always, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli opened the innings for the home team whereas Auqib Nabi opened the attack for DC and was smacked for 13 runs in the opening over.
IPL 2026 RCB vs DC Playing XIs
RCB: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (C), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood.
DC: Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul (wk), Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel (C), David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Auqib Nabi, Lungi Ngidi, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar.
