RCB beware! Ex-CSK player predicts 'night to remember' for Sunrisers Hyderabad star
Ravichandran Ashwin predicts a 'night to remember' for Heinrich Klaasen and Jacob Bethell in the IPL 2026 opener between RCB and SRH. Ashwin believes SRH's powerful batting lineup will continue their dominance over RCB, especially with RCB missing Hazlewood and struggling in death overs.
'Night to remember' - that’s what former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin predicted ahead of the IPL 2026 opening match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). The two sides will clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday. Speaking on his YouTube channel, 'Ash ki Baat', Ashwin picked Sunrisers Hyderabad’s swashbuckling batter Heinrich Klaasen to go big on Saturday night.
He also backed England’s Jacob Bethell for RCB, who had a brilliant T20 World Cup, top-scoring for England with 280 runs in eight innings, including a masterclass 48-ball 105 in the semifinal against India at the Wankhede Stadium while chasing 250-odd runs. "I have a strange feeling for this match. In the last 18 months, this guy has not done much wonders.
A strange feeling that Heinrich Klaasen is going to have a night to remember, I don't know why. From RCB's side, I think Jacob Bethell will be the power player of the day," he said. The SRH batting order is power-packed, consisting of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma as openers, followed by Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Liam Livingstone, and Aniket Verma.
The Men in Orange have one of the finest batting line-ups in terms of strike rate, and a 300-run total in the IPL could be on the cards if they fire on all cylinders. However, Klaasen has not been able to fire consistently since his retirement from international cricket. Once a fiery T20 league globetrotter, Klaasen has struggled for runs for the most part.