The 19th edition of IPL 2026 will kick off on Saturday, March 28. Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will lock horns with the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the season opener at their fortress – M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
The Rajat Patidar-led side will have a challenging game as they are without their premier bowler, Josh Hazlewood, for their opening game. Meanwhile, Yash Dayal is unavailable for the entire season due to personal reasons. There are also question marks about Nuwan Thusara, who is yet to receive a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) due to fitness issues.
Similarly, SRH will be without their regular captain and ace pacer, Pat Cummins. They recently replaced injured Jack Edwards with David Payne. In this article, we take a look at three bowlers who might emerge as the leading wicket-takers in the opening game of the 2026 season. Take a look below:
Harshal Patel


Harshal Patel is often known as Purple Patel owing to his promising record in the IPL. The speedster has scalped 151 wickets in 119 matches at an economy rate of 8.86. The 35-year-old is only third active pacer to bag more than 150 wickets in the tournament after Bhuvneshwar Kumar (198) and Jasprit Bumrah (183). Notably, Patel took 32 and 24 wickets in the 2021 and 2024 editions for RCB and Punjab Kings (PBKS), respectively.
Harshal is known for his ability to vary pace, which yields him the results, particularly in the death overs. The Gujarat-born pacer took 16 wickets in 13 matches at an economy rate of 9.80, including two four-fers in IPL 2025. Against RCB, he has scalped seven wickets in six games at an economy rate of 10.91, including 3/38. The SunRisers retained for INR 8 crore ahead of IPL 2026 auction.
Krunal Pandya


Krunal Pandya proved to be one of the Most Valuable Players (MVPs) for RCB last season. The left-arm spinner picked up 17 wickets in 15 matches at an economy rate of 8.23. With 3/29 against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), he made an impressive debut for the Bengaluru-based franchise before returning with career-best figures of 4/45 against the Mumbai Indians (MI).
Pandya is equally effective in the powerplay as in the slog overs. With 93 scalps in 142 games, he’s on the verge of completing his 100 wickets in the T20 league. The 2025 champions retained him for INR 5.75 crore ahead of the IPL 2026 season.
Shivam Mavi


SRH bought Shivam Mavi at a steal of INR 75 lakh at the IPL 2026 auction. The medium pacer has established a solid experience during his stint with KKR from 2018 to 2022, picking up 30 wickets in 32 matches at an economy rate of 8.70. He then warmed the bench with the Gujarat Titans (GT) before an injury cut short his stint with the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in 2024. As a result, Mavi will be keen to make the most of his comeback. Earlier this year, he picked up 7/59 against Vidarbha in a first-class match.
Besides IPL, Mavi has also tasted international experience. In addition, he has represented India in six T20Is, picking up seven wickets at an economy rate of 8.78. With skipper Cummins ruled out of the first matches for the SunRisers, Mavi might be Harshal’s new partner in crime in the fast-bowling department. While Harshal will try to create pressure from the other end, Mavi could be one bearing the fruit.
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Edited by James Kuanal









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