Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have ended the suspense over Yash Dayal and revealed that the pacer will not play for them in the 2026 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The 19th edition of the world’s richest cricket league will start on March 28 as at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Dayal has been a key part of the side for the last two seasons after he was signed by the franchise in the 2024 mini auction for Rs. 5 crore. Impressed by his debut season, the left-arm pacer was retained by the Bengaluru-based franchise for the same amount ahead of the 2025 mega auction. He played a key role in helping the Rajat Patidar-led side win their maiden title last season with 13 wickets in 15 matches.
However, Dayal has not played any competitive match since the 2025 IPL final between RCB and Punjab Kings (PBKS). He missed the entire domestic season for Uttar Pradesh and did not even play the Uttar Pradesh Premier League (UPPL) last year.
The pacer found himself in trouble after being accused of raping a minor. Multiple FIRs were registered against Dayal, including a Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) case.
With the legal battle still on, RCB retained the pacer in a move that sparked backlash. However, the franchise’s director of cricket Mo Bobat confirmed that he will not play this season but remains under contract.
“Just to confirm that Yash will not be joining the squad. As you know, he’s going through a personal situation. And just to clarify, we’ve been very supportive of Yash to date. And that’s reflected in the fact that we retained him when we had the opportunity to either retain or release players. We wanted to retain him.
“And he remains under contract and will continue to, in the short term, be foreseeable to remain under contract. We are communicating with him regularly, and I spoke to him earlier today as well. But it’s been decided that it is not in his best interest, or the franchise’s best interest, for him to join RCB at this point.We won’t be making any further comments on that at this stage. And that’s probably all I’ve got to say on this situation, that he won’t be joining RCB. But he obviously retains our support and remains under contract. And we’ll continue to speak to him as he goes through his personal situation,” said Bobat in a press conference.
Why RCB Cannot Sign A Replacement For Yash Dayal?
Replacements for a player are only allowed when a player pulls out due to injury or personal reasons. As neither is the case and decided to retain him ahead of the mini auction, they cannot replace him, and he will be treated as a member of the squad, which means he cannot be replaced. By deciding to retain him, RCB spent a part of their salary cap on Dayal and hence the money cannot used to buy a replacement.