Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has raised the question Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) South Africa to release fast bowler Lungi Ngidi ahead of the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The 30-year-old took three wickets for his new team Delhi Capitals (DC) during their win against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Wednesday, April 1.
Ngidi bowled an excellent opening spell with the new ball, in which the wicket of Nicholas Pooran was the icing on the cake. The right-arm pacer bowled a brilliant slow yorker, which completely took the West Indies batsman and hit his stumps.
Chopra praised Ngidi's influence along with that of his fast bowling partner T. Natarajan. The South African comes into the 2026 IPL season on the back of excellent form, which includes taking 12 wickets at an economy of 7.19 in the T20 World Cup.
“T Natarajan, who got injured last season and didn't play for a long time, bowled well this time. He took three wickets and Lungi Ngidi was absolutely fantastic. If we look at the last 17 or 18 months, he seems to be one of the best bowlers from both an execution and skill point of view,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
ngidi Became part of RCB's title-winning team in 2025 but played only two games. Despite being priced at only Rs 1 crore, he was let go by the franchise before the mini auction.
RCB's defeat benefited DC, who bought him for his base price of Rs 2 crore.
He said, “RCB must be thinking that he was with them for Rs 1 crore, and why did they let him go. Of course, they did not know about Josh Hazlewood's injury at that time, but he was worth keeping. They must be feeling a bit of pain. RCB's loss is Delhi's gain. Lungi Ngidi was brilliant.”
Despite currently missing Josh Hazlewood and Ngidi no longer in the squad, RCB have found an adequate replacement in New Zealand's Jacob Duffy. Bought at another base price of Rs 2 crore, the 31-year-old took three wickets on his debut for the defending champions during the win over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on the opening night.
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