Watch: Rajat Patidar and Jitesh Sharma offer prayers at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam ahead of RCB vs CSK IPL 2026 clash

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the defending champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, began their campaign with dominance, under the leadership of Rajat Patidar, to beat the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the home venue- M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, and hopes to continue the same form. 

The ‘Play Bold’ army got a break of seven days post the opening encounter and will lock horns in the Southern Derby with the Chennai Super Kings on April 05 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, who have already faced two defeats at the beginning of the competition against Rajasthan Royals and the Punjab Kings.

Rajat Patidar and Jitesh Sharma visit Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam

Ahead of the fixture against the Super Kings, both the RCB players, Patidar and Jitesh Sharma, visited the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam in Tirupati district to offer prayers to Lord Venkateswara. That was the same instance for these two players during the previous season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2025. 

Watch the video here: 

It has now become a ritual for many franchises, along with the Indian cricket team, to visit the temple of a particular city and take blessings. Even the cricketers need a little divine intervention before the next big game, which comes with lots of excitement and new challenges.

There was a massive crowd when Rajat Patidar and Jitesh were inside the temple, but the security personnel handled the situation really well as both these players took selfies with the priests of the committee.

RCB prepares to continue recent dominance over CSK

In the overall head-to-head record between the two franchises, the Chennai side has a better record of 21-13 in 35 encounters, including one result. However, in the last four games, the Bengaluru side has shown dominance with a 3-1 record. The previous game between these two sides came with a lot of controversy.

See Also: Trouble for PBKS as captain Shreyas Iyer fined for major offence during CSK vs PBKS IPL 2026 clash

Bengaluru posted a huge score of 213 runs for the loss of five wickets in their allotted 20 overs, thanks to the 97-run opening partnership with Virat Kohli smashing 62 runs in just 33 balls, smashing five boundaries and as many sixes. Romario Shepherd made the biggest impact with an unbeaten knock of 53 runs in just 14 deliveries.

CSK fell short of the target by two runs. For the Sunday clash in 2026, they will be without MS Dhoni, while Dewald Brevis could return to the playing eleven, having missed the first two clashes for injury.

Fans’ reaction to Patidar and Jitesh’s visit to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam

Here is how the fans have reacted to Patidar and Jitesh visiting the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam before their clash against CSK in IPL 2026-