The defending champion Royal Challengers Bangalore is coming back again to defend their title in IPL 2026. After a fantastic title winning season, RCB led by Rajat Patidar and backed by Virat Kohli is totally stuck with their core team which was built in last year’s mega auction. With the picks of Phil Salt, Tim David, Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd and Jityesh Sharma, this team looks all settled.
However, some players also bid adieu including the likes of star English All Rounder Liam Livingstone and Mayank Agarwal. RCB is currently having 16.40 Cr purse to fill 8 slots for the Mini auction and the amount looks pretty decent as they just need to pick one proper middle order Indian batsman and rest of the backups.
Auction Strategy
Not so hefty stuff on the auction table for RCB this time. They are looking all and all settled. Last year one of their problems was to find a middle order Indian batter who can bat at 3 or 4, a replacement for Liam Livingstone and Lungi Ngidi and an Indian Spinner. With 16.40 Cr, RCB need to pick some smartbuys.
Top Indian Options Available
Venkatesh Iyer
He will be the first name on RCB’s auction sheet and no wonder if they spend 80% of their purse on Venkatesh. Even in last year’s mega auction RCB almost acquired him but KKR outbid them. They are in desperate need of an Indian batter as Devdutt Paddikal failed to play that role last year. He was released by KKR after a failed season.
Rahul Chahar
The Indian leg spinner will also attract some healthy bids from RCB’s auction table as they are in search of a replacement for Suyash Sharma.
Tushar Raheja
From an unknown commodity, Tushar Raheja, a wicketkeeper top order batter who can play at 3 or 4. If RCB misses on Venbkatesh Iyer then they should pick Tushar for that role. He scored 488 runs in 9 innings with an average of 61 and strike rate of 185.5 while playing for Tiruppur Tamizhans in TNPL.
Top Overseas Available
Jacob Duffy
A perfect replacement for Lungi Ngidi and if needed then for Josh Hazlewood as well. Duffy Kiwi pacer who can swing the ball in both ways and can dip yorkers in death as well.
Cooper Connolly
The Aussie spin all rounder might be the perfect replacement for Liam Livingston. Cooper can bowl off spin and can bat in lower order for finishing games. During his stint with Perth Scorchers in the last BBL, he scored 351 runs at an average of 50.14 and also picked 6 wickets with an economy of 7.42.
RCB Retained Players for IPL 2026
Abhinandan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Devdutt Padikkal, Jacob Bethell, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Krunal Pandya, Nuwan Thushara, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar, Rasikh Dar, Romario Shepherd, Suyash Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Virat Kohli, Yash Dayal
