One of the teams that did not do much in the Indian Premier League 2026 auction was the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. RCB squad 2026 is ready as they purchased a few players in the auction to strengthen their team and fill the gaps of the back-ups wherever necessary. Basically, the Indian Premier League 2026 will start from the 26th of March 2026 and will end on the 31st of May 2026.
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru are the defending champions of the Indian Premier League, as they won the previous edition by defeating the Punjab Kings in the final. Basically, the 18-year-long wait was over for the franchise as well as the great Virat Kohli after coming so close a lot of times. They will want to go and defend their title in the 2026 Indian Premier League season.
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RCB squad 2026: Full list of players, New buys, and IPL 2026 strategy
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru came to the auction just to fill some of the back-up requirements for their team, as they already have their starting players for the upcoming season. There are chances that the RCB captain, Rajat Patidar, could miss some starting matches of the 2026 IPL, and they did not want to take any risk, so they purchased Venkatesh Iyer for ₹7crore as a backup if the team does not want to go with Devdutt Padikkal. Venkatesh Iyer is currently bowling as well, and he could also start with Rajat being there.
Mangesh Yadav, the uncapped Indian all-rounder, also got his place in the defending champions team as he was purchased for ₹5.2 crore. RCB also purchased the New Zealand bowler, Jacob Duffy, for ₹2 crore, along with English batter Jordan Cox for ₹75 lakh. They also purchased Kanishk Chouhan, Vihaan Malhotra, and Vicky Ostwal from the Indian uncapped category. All players are all-rounders and were purchased for their base price, ₹30 lakh.
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru already have one of the greatest batters, Virat Kohli, in their team, who will continue to get them runs. Basically, the team has power hitters such as Phil Salt and Tim David, who play with a high strike rate. In the bowling department, they have Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who will lead the bowling department for the Royal Challengers of Bengaluru, just like the previous edition. Just don’t forget, Yash Dhayal.
Full IPL 2026 Squad of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru
- Batters: Rajat Patidar, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, and Jordan Cox
- All-rounders: Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Jacob Bethell, Romario Shepherd, Swapnil Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Mangesh Yadav, Satvik Deswal, Kanishk Chouhan, Vihaan Malhotra, and Vicky Ostwal
- Wicketkeepers: Phil Salt and Jitesh Sharma
- Bowlers: Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salam, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma, Nuwan Thushara, Abhinandan Singh, and Jacob Duffy