Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have confirmed that pacer Yash Dayal won’t play a single match for them in IPL 2026. While on one hand, the franchise is gearing up for a jubilant title defence at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, on the other, they are navigating a somewhat tricky situation with one of their star 2025 performers, Yash Dayal.
Despite serious allegations, including a case under the POCSO Act and a rejected anticipatory bail plea in Jaipur, RCB Director of Cricket Mo Bobat confirmed today that Dayal remains “under contract.” However, he will not step foot on the field for IPL 2026.
This decision has left fans and critics asking one question: Why?
Under what conditions can RCB ask for a replacement?
One of the reasons RCB could be in a dilemma is because of the strictly defined BCCI Player Replacement Guidelines. According to the IPL rulebook, a franchise can only seek a replacement player under three specific conditions:
Season-ending Injury: Confirmed by a BCCI-appointed medical board.
Illness: Documented medical incapacity for the entire season.
Withdrawal: A player voluntarily pulling out before the season starts.
Because Dayal is technically fit to play but is being sidelined by the franchise due to “personal situations and legal proceedings”, he does not fit the criteria for an Injury Replacement. Since RCB has chosen to retain his contract rather than terminate it, the spot remains occupied on their 25-man roster.
What this means is that RCB effectively enter the 2026 season with a 24-man squad, leaving a Rs 5-crore hole in their salary cap that cannot be re-allocated to a new signing.
Why not terminate the contract?
If RCB were to terminate Dayal’s contract immediately, they would legally sever ties but they would still likely be unable to pick a replacement because the “window” for injury-related replacements is the only standard path for mid-season additions.
Furthermore, terminating a contract while a matter is sub judice (under trial) can lead to complex legal counter-suits regarding “wrongful termination” if the player is eventually acquitted.
By keeping him “under contract but away from the squad,” RCB will also prevent social media backlash ensuring a rape-accused player is not the face of the defending champions on the field.
“We wanted to retain him, and he remains under contract and will continue in the short term to remain under contract,” Mo Bobat, Director of Cricket at RCB, told the media during a press conference.
“We are communicating with him regularly. I spoke to him earlier today as well, but it has been decided that it is not in his best interest or the franchise’s best interest for him to join up with us at this point.”
In addition, it will also maintain a wait and watch policy as the Jaipur POCSO court proceedings unfold.
The on-field handicap
Dayal was the team’s leading Indian left-arm pacer, taking 13 wickets in their championship-winning 2025 season.
Without him, the burden shifts entirely to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood (who is himself battling fitness issues). The franchise will now have to rely on unproven domestic depth, such as Rasikh Salam, Mangesh Yadav or Abhinandan Singh. Overseas pacers quicks Jacob Duffy and Nuwan Thushara and the West Indies allrounder Romario Shepherd are the other fast bowling options.
RCB take on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the tournament opener on March 28 with tickets already live for the first match of the season.