Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has picked Bhuvneshwar Kumar vs Abhishek Sharma as one of the key battles in SRH vs RCB IPL 2026 clash on Friday. While Abhishek has scored 507 runs in 13 matches of the season, Kumar is the highest wicket taker of the season with 24 scalps in 13 games.

Chopra highlighted that Kumar is a veteran whereas Abhishek is still rising through the ranks at the top level. Abhishek was dismissed after scoring seven runs against RCB earlier in the season whereas Bhuvneshwar had bagged 1-31 in his four overs in the same game.

“Abhishek Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. They are two stalwarts. One is very senior, and the other is a rising star at the moment. So, how they will face off against each other will be a very interesting point of conversation as to how it will turn out eventually,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

The renowned commentator is also waiting to see how Virat Kohli vs Pat Cummins will fare out. Kohli scored an impressive knock of 69 runs off 38 balls against SRH in the opening game of IPL 2026.

“How Pat Cummins would bowl to Virat Kohli, because that will be a contest. Pat Cummins might not open with Nitish Kumar Reddy or someone else this time, but come himself with the ball. That is the contest we are looking forward to watch,” he observed.

The former Delhi cricketer picked Heinrich Klaasen vs Krunal Pandya as his third battle to watch out for.

‘It should be a good game, Pat Cummins vs Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar vs Abhishek Sharma, and maybe Heinrich Klaasen vs Krunal Pandya. These are a few things that will be very interesting. I like Sakib Hussain a lot. So Sakib and Eshan Malinga vs Tim David, or against Rajat Patidar. These are some battles,” he said.

SRH and RCB will both look to finish as top-two teams.