Tirupati, April 4 (IANS) Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Rajat Patidar, along with wicketkeeper batter Jitesh Sharma, offered prayers at the sacred Tirumala temple on Saturday ahead of the team’s next match against the five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Perched atop the Seshachalam Hills in Andhra Pradesh, the Venkateswara Temple at Tirumala is one of Hinduism’s most revered shrines. Dedicated to Lord Venkateswara- an incarnation of Vishnu- the temple welcomes over 24 million pilgrims annually.

Patidar and Jitesh had previously visited the spiritual place last year, ahead of the CSK clash in which RCB came victorious and went on to clinch the title for the first time in IPL history.

Patidar, who recently became a father, looked in great touch in the opening match of the RCB played against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on March 28.

The skipper came to bat at number 4 and played a dominating knock of 31 runs, which came off just 12 balls. His innings included two boundaries and three maximums. While Jitesh, who was dropped from India’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad, failed to capitalise on the opportunity to finish the game, as he went out on a duck.

Despite Jitesh getting out early, RCB chased down the mammoth 202-run target easily in just 15.4 overs with Virat Kohli remaining unbeaten at 69.

Earlier, Jacob Duffy, who came in place of Josh Hazlewood as the Australian pacer, who is currently recovering, took three crucial wickets in the powerplay and gave away just 22 runs in four overs. While Romario Shepherd also took three wickets as SRH scored 201 runs in 20 overs while losing nine wickets.

With this win, the defending champions are currently placed at number three in the IPL 2026 points table with a good net run rate of +2907. While the Punjab Kings are at the top with two wins in two matches, and the Rajasthan Royals are at second with one win and a +4.171 net run rate.

–IANS

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