For the majority of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were window shopping. The paddle was untouched for the most part. Carrying the reputation of reigning champions, you’d expect RCB to just fill the gaps, i.e., get apt replacements.
RCB had released all-rounders Liam Livingstone and Manoj Bhandage, batters Mayank Agarwal and Swastik Chikara, and spinners Mohit Rathee. Andy Flower, Dinesh Karthik, and Mo Bobat had to make reinforcements in Abu Dhabi.
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As mentioned above, RCB already has a champion team. Barring one buy, it’s unlikely that any of their purchases will slot directly into the starting XI. But one has to take injury and form into account. Last year, Rajat Patidar, Devdutt Padikkal, Tim David, and Josh Hazlewood were all injured at one point or another. That’s why getting quality backups was RCB’s main objective.
As Phil Salt’s replacement, RCB got another Englishman, Jordan Cox, for just INR 75 lakh. The keeper was the best batter in the Hundred 2025 season. He was one of the steals of the IPL 2026 auction.
Padikkal got injured last season after a couple of good knocks. However, he might not start this time, as RCB got Venkatesh Iyer for INR 7 crore. Apart from his batting ability, one also has to factor in that Venky bowls some handy medium pace. If Patidar, Venky or Virat Kohli can’t play, Padikkal can take any of these spots.
Mangesh Yadav, a left-arm pace-bowling all-rounder, can come in for Romario Shepherd if need be. He might be used as an impact player as well. Mangesh took the most wickets in MPT20 and can strike over 200.
RCB got Jacob Duffy for just INR 2 crore as Hazlewood’s replacement. The tall New Zealand pacer has great new-ball skills, considering how injury-prone Hazlewood is. Even right now, he’s out of action and will miss the entire Ashes.
Vihaan Malhotra, Kanishk Chouhan, and Satvik Deswal are the three spin-bowling all-rounders RCB got. They can come in for Krunal Pandya, who had a career-best season last year, if need be. One place where RCB falls short is having no backup wrist spinner for Suyash Sharma, who himself isn’t a proven commodity.
Due to a lack of funds, they couldn’t pursue Rahul Chahar or Ravi Bishnoi. One could argue they should have bid for either of them instead of Venkatesh, but they felt that the number 3 position was perhaps a slight weakness of theirs. All in all, RCB have got all their bases covered and get a 9/10 for their squad for the IPL 2026.
Strongest RCB Playing XII for IPL 2026
No.PlayerBackup Player1Virat Kohli2Phil Salt (wk)Jordan Cox (wk)3Venkatesh IyerDevdutt Padikkal4Rajat Patidar (c)5Tim DavidJacob Bethell6Jitesh Sharma (wk)7Romario ShepherdMangesh Yadav8Krunal PandyaVihaan Malhotra/Kanishk Chouhan/Satvik Deswal9Bhuvneshwar KumarAbhinandan Singh10Suyash SharmaSwapnil Singh/Vicky Ostwal11Josh HazlewoodJacob Duffy/Nuwan ThusharaImpact SubYash DayalRating RCB squad after IPL 2026 auction: Buying Venkatesh Iyer over Ravi Bishnoi, a mistake? Inside Sport India.
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