IPL 2026: Why are RCB playing Abhinandan Singh before Rasikh Salam & Mangesh Yadav?
(Courtesy : BCCI/IPL)
RCB played Abhinandan Singh in the first three games of IPL 2026.
Uncapped Indian pacer Abhinandan Singh has made his debut in the Indian Premier League 2026 for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Rajat Patidar & Co. have played the right-arm pacer in all three games in IPL 2026, which has given him a little popularity among fans.
After pacer Yash Dayal opted out of IPL 2026 due to personal reasons, RCB had to go ahead with an uncapped Indian pacer in the playing XI. They also have domestic pacers like Rasikh Salam and Mangesh Yadav; however, they have opted with Abhinandan at the start.
Interestingly, Rasikh and Mangesh are more expensive players than Abhinandan. Rasikh was retained by the defending champions for INR 6 crore, while Mangesh was bought for INR 5.20 crore in the IPL 2026 mini-auction.
On the other hand, Abhinandan has been retained at his base price of INR 30 lakh. Despite the price, RCB have preferred Abhinandan over the other two young stars.
Why RCB have backed Abhinandan Singh in the playing XI?
According to reports, Abhinandan gave a brilliant performance in the pre-season training sessions. In both intra-squad matches, he dismissed Virat Kohli. This brought him into contention for the playing XI.
He is a right-arm pacer from Uttar Pradesh who impressed in the UP T20 League while representing the Lucknow Falcons.
He has picked up three wickets in three games so far in IPL 2026, including a two-wicket haul in one game. However, he has been quite expensive at his economy rate of 12.62. He was too expensive in the previous game against RR, conceding 54 runs in just three overs.
Hence, other pacers might get opportunities in the upcoming games as RCB can make changes to their bowling unit against the Mumbai Indians on Sunday, April 12.
Meanwhile, RCB have won two games and lost one out of three so far. They outplayed Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their first two matches, before losing to RR in their previous clash.
Abhinandan Singh made his debut for which team in IPL?
Abhinandan made his debut in IPL 2026 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
How many wickets has Abhinandan taken in IPL 2026?
He has taken three wickets in three games for RCB.
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Vikas Singh Derek is a core cricket-lover since childhood and has always followed the sport both in his personal and professional life. He started his school life by watching cricket at home with family. Later, he played cricket on the field at local clubs during college. After his Master's in Journalism from Mumbai, he followed his passion by covering cricket news across various digital media. Since 2015, he has been an aspiring sports journalist and cricket content writer with over 50K+ articles.