2026 Royal Challengers Bengaluru season
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| 2026 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach | Andy Flower | ||
| Captain | Rajat Patidar | ||
| Ground(s) | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium, Nava Raipur | ||
| |||
| 2026 Indian Premier League Teams |
|---|
 |
| Group A |
| Group B |
| See also |
|
Note: Teams are listed per seedings. |
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.[1]
Player retention and releases
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.[2] They are one of the ten teams competing in the 2026 edition from 28 March to 31 May 2026.[3] They are led by Rajat Patidar and coached by Andy Flower.[4] 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.[5] The team played the season opener against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on 28 March, hosted at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.[6]
The retentions were announced on 15 November 2025.[7] The team retained a total of 17 players.[8]
| No. | Player | Salary | No. | Player | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | Virat Kohli | ₹21 crore (US$2.2 million) | 8 | Tim David | ₹3 crore (US$320,000) |
| 38 | Josh Hazlewood | ₹12.5 crore (US$1.3 million) | 5 | Suyash Sharma | ₹2.6 crore (US$270,000) |
| 28 | Phil Salt | ₹11.5 crore (US$1.2 million) | 2 | Jacob Bethell | ₹2.6 crore (US$270,000) |
| 97 | Rajat Patidar (c) | ₹11 crore (US$1.2 million) | 37 | Devdutt Padikkal | ₹2 crore (US$210,000) |
| 55 | Jitesh Sharma | ₹11.5 crore (US$1.2 million) | 53 | Nuwan Thushara | ₹1.6 crore (US$170,000) |
| 15 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | ₹10.75 crore (US$1.1 million) | 48 | Romario Shepherd | ₹1.5 crore (US$160,000) |
| 42 | Rasikh Salam | ₹6 crore (US$630,000) | 24 | Swapnil Singh | ₹50 lakh (US$53,000) |
| 6 | Krunal Pandya | ₹5.75 crore (US$610,000) | 14 | Abhinandan Singh | ₹30 lakh (US$32,000) |
| 13 | Yash Dayal | ₹5 crore (US$530,000) | N/a | ||
| Wicket-keepers | All-rounders | Fast bowlers | Spin bowlers |
|---|---|---|---|
Auction summary
The mini-auction took place on 16 December 2025 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.[11] Bengaluru entered with a purse of ₹16.40 crore (US$1.7 million) in the 2026 auction, with 8 slots to fill (including 2 overseas slots).[12] The most expensive player bought by the team for this edition was Venkatesh Iyer, for a salary of ₹7 crore (US$740,000).[13] The team filled all its remaining slots with ₹25 lakh (US$26,000) left.[14]
| Team | Retained | Bought | Overall | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capped | Uncapped | Total | Capped | Uncapped | Total | Capped | Uncapped | Total | |
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 11 | 6 | 17 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 11 | 25 |
League stage
Points table
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | Punjab Kings | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 1.043 | Advance to the qualifier 1 |
| 2 | A | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 1.919 | |
| 3 | B | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0.832 | Advance to the eliminator |
| 4 | A | Rajasthan Royals | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0.617 | |
| 5 | B | Gujarat Titans | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | −0.475 | |
| 6 | A | Chennai Super Kings | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6 | −0.121 | |
| 7 | B | Delhi Capitals | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6 | −1.060 | |
| 8 | A | Kolkata Knight Riders | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | −0.751 | |
| 9 | B | Mumbai Indians | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | −0.784 | |
| 10 | B | Lucknow Super Giants | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | −1.106 |
League progression
| Team | Group matches | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Q1/E | Q2 | F | |
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 | ||||||||
| Win | Loss | No result |
- Note: The total points at the end of each group match are listed.
- Note: Click on the points (group matches) or W/L (playoffs) to see the match summary.
Fixtures
Sunrisers Hyderabad 201/9 (20 overs) |
v |
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (H) 203/4 (15.4 overs) |
- Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the toss and elected to field.
- Abhinandan Singh (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) made his T20 debut.[16]
- Jacob Duffy (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) and David Payne (Sunrisers Hyderabad) both made their IPL debuts.[17][18]
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (H) 250/3 (20 overs) |
v |
Chennai Super Kings 207 (19.4 overs) |
- Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.
- Tim David (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) scored his 400th six in T20s.[citation needed]
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) took his 200th wicket in IPL.[19]
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 201/8 (20 overs) |
v |
Rajasthan Royals (H) 202/4 (18 overs) |
- Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 240/4 (20 overs) |
v |
Mumbai Indians (H) 222/5 (20 overs) |
- Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to field.
Lucknow Super Giants 146 (20 overs) |
v |
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (H) 149/5 (15.1 overs) |
- Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the toss and elected to field.
- Krunal Pandya (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) took his 100th wicket in IPL.[20]
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (H) 175/8 (20 overs) |
v |
Delhi Capitals 179/4 (19.5 overs) |
- Delhi Capitals won the toss and elected to field.
- This was Royal Challengers Bengaluru's 100th game at this venue.[21]
Gujarat Titans 205/3 (20 overs) |
v |
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (H) 206/5 (18.5 overs) |
- Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the toss and elected to field.
Delhi Capitals (H) 75 (16.3 overs) |
v |
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 77/1 (6.3 overs) |
- Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the toss and elected to field.
- Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) scored 9000 runs in IPL.[22]
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 155 (19.2 overs) |
v |
Gujarat Titans (H) 158/6 (15.5 overs) |
- Gujarat Titans won the toss and elected to field.
Statistics
Most runs[citation needed]
| Runs | Player | Inns. | HS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 351 | Virat Kohli | 8 | 81 |
| 242 | Devdutt Padikkal | 7 | 61 |
| 238 | Rajat Patidar | 7 | 63 |
| 202 | Phil Salt | 6 | 78 |
| 183 | Tim David | 7 | 70* |
| Last Updated: 27 Apr 2026 | |||
Most wickets[citation needed]
| Wickets | Player | BBI |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 3/5 |
| 9 | Krunal Pandya | 2/30 |
| 8 | Josh Hazlewood | 4/12 |
| 6 | Jacob Duffy | 3/22 |
| Rasikh Salam | 4/24 | |
| Suyash Sharma | 2/47 | |
| Last Updated: 27 Apr 2026 | ||
Player of the match
| Match No. | Date | Player | Opponent | Contribution | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 March 2026 | Jacob Duffy | SRH | 3/22 (4 overs) | [citation needed] |
| 11 | 5 April 2026 | Tim David | CSK | 70*(25) | [citation needed] |
| 20 | 12 April 2026 | Phil Salt | MI | 78(36) | [citation needed] |
| 23 | 15 April 2026 | Josh Hazlewood | LSG | 1/20 (4 overs) | [citation needed] |
| 34 | 24 April 2026 | Virat Kohli | GT | 81(44) | [citation needed] |
| 39 | 27 April 2026 | Josh Hazlewood (2) | DC | 4/12 (3.3 overs) | [citation needed] |