Former India opener Kris Srikkanth has left out Venkatesh Iyer while choosing the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) line-up for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Srikkanth chose RCB's playing XI keeping in mind the impact player rule.
Venkatesh JJoined RCB after spending five seasons at Kolkata Knight Riders. He was bought for Rs 7 crore in the IPL 2026 mini auction after the Knights released him. Srikkanth also took into account the injury suffered by Josh Hazlewood, which has ruled him out of the recently concluded T20 World Cup and will also make him miss the first few matches of the IPL.
At the top of the order, Srikkanth went with the successful pair of Phil Salt and Virat Kohli, who had scored 403 and 657 runs respectively last season. While Jacob Bethel displayed better form than Salt during the T20 World Cup, Srikkanth continued to outperform Salt.
After this star pair, Srikkanth chose Devdutt Padikkal at number 3 and captain Rajat Patidar at number 4. He had an up-and-down campaign with the bat last year, but ultimately ended with a good total of 559 runs.
Tim David, Jitesh Sharma and Romario Shepherd were the three formidable middle-order batsmen selected by Srikkanth. All three had impressed during the last edition of the IPL, where RCB won the title for the first time. Their strike rates were 185.15, 176.35 and 291.67 respectively.
In the spin-bowling department, Srikkanth partnered Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma. While both of them performed well and took 25 wickets combined, it was Krunal who made a big impact, taking 17 wickets at an average of 22.29 in 15 matches.
As far as fast bowlers are concerned, Srikkanth named Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the line-up and gave him a new partner in Jacob Duffy. The former chief selector of India feels Yash Dayal will be an impact player.
Srikkanth's RCB playing XI for the start of IPL 2026:
Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (captain), Tim David, Jitesh Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Suyash Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy.
Impact Sub: Lockie Ferguson.
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