Rajat Patidar (BCCI/IPL Photo)
NEW DELHI: Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru entered their crucial IPL 2026 clash against Punjab Kings at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala without regular captain Rajat Patidar. In Patidar’s absence, wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma led the side.RCB are the defending IPL champions, having defeated Punjab Kings in the 2025 final to lift the title. Jitesh walked out for the toss as stand-in captain after Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to field first.“We’re going to bowl. I’m not going by the stats, we’re clearly seeing how the games pan out. If we bat and bowl well, the toss doesn’t matter. I seriously had no clue that this was my 100th game as a captain but it feels great. It feels like a great opportunity for me to win my 100th game (as captain),” Iyer said during the toss.“The bowling has been fantastic, but there are pressure moments where you need to execute and so you can’t change the past, nor you can’t anticipate the future. The beauty is to stay in the moment and see the moment and enjoy the pressure. Two changes for us (Harpreet) Brar and Lockie (Ferguson) come in,” he added.Jitesh, meanwhile, provided a major update on Patidar’s fitness status.“We would have loved to bowl first, but the wicket is good and should play well for 40 overs. Rajat is doing fantastic and we should see him in Hyderabad. Every game is important, this win can change a lot for us and other teams. Suyash replaces Rajat and Romario replaces Duffy,” Jitesh said.
Why is Rajat Patidar not playing against PBKS?
According to sources, Patidar did not travel with the squad to Dharamsala and also missed both practice sessions ahead of the RCB-PBKS clash.Jitesh confirmed during the toss that the RCB captain is recovering well and could return for the team’s next game.“Rajat is doing fantastic and we should see him in Hyderabad,” Jitesh said.RCB will face Sunrisers Hyderabad in their final league-stage match on May 22.Patidar has enjoyed an outstanding IPL 2026 season so far, scoring 326 runs in 10 innings at a blistering strike rate of 195, including three half-centuries.The focus will now shift to Jitesh, who has struggled with the bat this season. The wicketkeeper-batter has managed only 90 runs so far in the tournament.RCB currently sit at the top of the IPL 2026 points table with 16 points from 12 matches. They have won eight games and lost four, while maintaining a healthy net run rate of +1.053.They have played 12 matches, won 8 and lost 4 and have 16 points with a solid net run rate of +1.053. Playing XIs:Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Venkatesh Iyer, Jitesh Sharma(w/c), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash SharmaPunjab Kings (Playing XI): Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra ChahalHere are the Impact substitutes for both the teams:Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact subs: Rasikh Salam Dar, Jordan Cox, Abhinandan Singh, Swapnil Singh, Kanishk ChouhanPunjab Kings Impact Subs: Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Musheer Khan, Praveen Dubey