Will Yash Dayal play for RCB in IPL 2026?

Yash Dayal was retained ahead of IPL 2026 by RCB for ₹5 crore.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 will start with a battle between defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).The match will be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on March 28.

RCB have already started their preparations ahead of the season at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, and most of their players have arrived, including star batter Virat Kohli, captain Rajat Patidar, and other important Indian players like Venkatesh Iyer and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. However, there is one Indian name still missing, and that is Yash Dayal.

Dayal was retained by RCB ahead of the 2026 season at a price of ₹5 crore, but the franchise received backlash due to an ongoing legal case against the left-arm bowler. Dayal played a major role in RCB’s success last season, but he has still not joined the team for this year’s IPL.

Yash Dayal likely to be released by RCB ahead of IPL 2026

According to reports in Cricket Gully, Yash Dayal might be released and kept sidelined by RCB due to the ongoing legal case against him. Dayal was not seen on the first day of the RCB camp on 18th March and continues to be absent. His last competitive match was against Punjab Kings, which was the final of IPL 2025.

Ever since then, he has remained at the centre of several controversies regarding his personal life. Since then, he has been sidelined from competitive cricket, and even the Uttar Pradesh cricket team did not consider him for the entire domestic season.

After that, it was strange for fans to see that RCB still showed trust in him and retained him ahead of the 2026 season, but now it seems like he could be sidelined from the team.

There are some viral pictures of RCB’s team bus circulating on social media, and there are no visuals of Dayal in them. His wife, Shweta Pundir, also posted a video on social media in which he was seen practising throw-downs, but it was not from Bengaluru, where RCB are currently holding their camp for the IPL.

What are the legal cases against Yash Dayal?

After immense success in IPL 2025, Dayal remained in the news due to some allegations made against him. An FIR was filed in Ghaziabad accusing him of physical exploitation under the false pretext of marriage. The Allahabad High Court granted him interim protection from arrest.

However, shortly after, in Jaipur, a case under the POCSO Act was filed against him concerning a minor, with multiple serious charges. These accusations and ongoing legal proceedings have dampened his chances of featuring in the next IPL season. To revive his career, he will need to clear all the allegations against him in court.

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