2026 Royal Challengers Bengaluru season

The 2026 edition is the 19th season for the Indian Premier League franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru. They will be one of the ten teams competing in the 2026 Indian Premier League. The team entered the tournament as the defending champions.

Source: Wikipedia

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2026 Royal Challengers Bengaluru season

Pre-season

2026 Royal Challengers Bengaluru season

Royal Challengers Bengaluru is a franchise cricket team based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, which has been playing in the Indian Premier League since its inaugural season. The team is the joint-fifth most successful in the tournament, having won a title in the previous edition after defeating the Punjab Kings by 6 runs in the final. They are one of the ten teams competing in the 2026 edition from 28 March to 31 May 2026. They are led by Rajat Patidar and coached by Andy Flower. The team is playing five of their home matches at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, with the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium hosting the other two home games. The team played the season opener against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on 28 March, hosted at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Player retention and releases

The retentions were announced on 15 November 2025. The team retained a total of 17 players.

<table><thead><tr><th>No.</th><th>Player</th><th>Salary</th><th>No.</th><th>Player</th><th>Salary</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>18</td><td>Virat Kohli</td><td>₹21 crore (US$2.5 million)</td><td>8</td><td>Tim David</td><td>₹3 crore (US$350,000)</td></tr><tr><td>38</td><td>Josh Hazlewood</td><td>₹12.5 crore (US$1.5 million)</td><td>5</td><td>Suyash Sharma</td><td>₹2.6 crore (US$310,000)</td></tr><tr><td>28</td><td>Phil Salt</td><td>₹11.5 crore (US$1.4 million)</td><td>2</td><td>Jacob Bethell</td><td>₹2.6 crore (US$310,000)</td></tr><tr><td>97</td><td>Rajat Patidar (c)</td><td>₹11 crore (US$1.3 million)</td><td>37</td><td>Devdutt Padikkal</td><td>₹2 crore (US$240,000)</td></tr><tr><td>55</td><td>Jitesh Sharma</td><td>₹11.5 crore (US$1.4 million)</td><td>53</td><td>Nuwan Thushara</td><td>₹1.6 crore (US$190,000)</td></tr><tr><td>15</td><td>Bhuvneshwar Kumar</td><td>₹10.75 crore (US$1.3 million)</td><td>48</td><td>Romario Shepherd</td><td>₹1.5 crore (US$180,000)</td></tr><tr><td>42</td><td>Rasikh Salam</td><td>₹6 crore (US$710,000)</td><td>24</td><td>Swapnil Singh</td><td>₹50 lakh (US$59,000)</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>Krunal Pandya</td><td>₹5.75 crore (US$680,000)</td><td>14</td><td>Abhinandan Singh</td><td>₹30 lakh (US$35,000)</td></tr><tr><td>13</td><td>Yash Dayal</td><td>₹5 crore (US$590,000)</td><td>—N/a</td></tr></tbody></table>

Auction summary

The mini-auction took place on 16 December 2025 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Bengaluru entered with a purse of ₹16.40 crore (US$1.9 million) in the 2026 auction, with 8 slots to fill (including 2 overseas slots). The most expensive player bought by the team for this edition was Venkatesh Iyer, for a salary of ₹7 crore (US$830,000). The team filled all its remaining slots with ₹25 lakh (US$30,000) left.

<table><thead><tr><th>Team</th><th>Retained</th><th>Bought</th><th>Overall</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Capped</td><td>Uncapped</td><td>Total</td><td>Capped</td><td>Uncapped</td><td>Total</td><td>Capped</td><td>Uncapped</td><td>Total</td></tr><tr><td>Royal Challengers Bengaluru</td><td>11</td><td>6</td><td>17</td><td>3</td><td>5</td><td>8</td><td>14</td><td>11</td><td>25</td></tr></tbody></table>

League Stage

Points table

<table><thead><tr><th>Pos</th><th>Grp</th><th>Team</th><th>Pld</th><th>W</th><th>L</th><th>NR</th><th>Pts</th><th>NRR</th><th>Qualification</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>A</td><td>Royal Challengers Bengaluru</td><td>1</td><td>1</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>2</td><td>2.907</td><td>Advance to Qualifier 1</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>A</td><td>Chennai Super Kings</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>B</td><td>Delhi Capitals</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td><td>Advance to Eliminator</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>B</td><td>Gujarat Titans</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>A</td><td>Kolkata Knight Riders</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>B</td><td>Lucknow Super Giants</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>B</td><td>Mumbai Indians</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>A</td><td>Punjab Kings</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>A</td><td>Rajasthan Royals</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>B</td><td>Sunrisers Hyderabad</td><td>1</td><td>0</td><td>1</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>−2.907</td></tr></tbody></table>

Statistics

Most runs

<table><thead><tr><th>Runs</th><th>Player</th><th>Inns.</th><th>HS</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Last Updated: TBD | Source: TBD</td></tr></tbody></table>

Most wickets

<table><thead><tr><th>Wickets</th><th>Player</th><th>Inns.</th><th>BBI</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Last Updated: TBD | Source: TBD</td></tr></tbody></table>