Royal Challengers Bengaluru have confirmed that pacer Yash Dayal will miss the upcoming IPL 2026 season due to personal reasons. The 28-year-old was instrumental in RCB’s campaign last year, picking up 13 wickets while maintaining an economy rate of 9.59. However, shortly after the season ended, Dayal became embroiled in legal issues, keeping him away from competitive cricket for nearly a year.
Although his wife recently shared a video of him training in the nets, the RCB management appears in no rush to bring him back into the squad.
However, RCB’s Director of Cricket Mo Bobat has expressed the franchise’s support for Dayal during this challenging period. Speaking at a pre-tournament press conference, Bobat revealed that the team has remained in regular contact with the pacer. He also emphasised that RCB have retained him on their roster and will continue to honour his contract as a sign of their backing.
"So, just to confirm that Yash will not be joining up with the squad. As you know, he is going through a personal situation currently, and just to clarify, we've been very supportive of Yash to date and that's reflected in the fact that we retained him when we had the opportunity to either retain or release players. We wanted to retain him, and he remains under contract and will continue in the short term to remain under contract,” Bobat said.
Since the announcement, there has been considerable confusion over whether RCB can sign a replacement for IPL 2026. The IPL playing conditions do not explicitly address a scenario where a player voluntarily opts out of an entire season. When India TV reached out to the franchise for clarification on a possible replacement, the team confirmed that ‘no replacement’ will be signed.
Who can replace Dayal in the playing XI
In all likelihood, the team management is set to back Mangesh Yadav in the playing XI. The 23-year-old was bought for INR 5.2 crore, after a strong recommendation from the captain Rajat Patidar. He has shown the right intent in the nets and prefers to take the ball away from the right-handed batters.
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