Rajat Patidar (BCCI/IPL Photo)
New Delhi: Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru are without a regular captain in their crucial IPL 2026 match against Punjab Kings at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala. Rajat Patidar. In Patidar’s absence, wicketkeeper-batsman Jitesh Sharma led the team.RCB is the defending IPL champion, having clinched the title by defeating Punjab Kings in the 2025 final. After Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to field first, Jitesh walked out to the toss as the stand-in captain.“We’re going to bowl. I’m not going by the stats, we’re obviously going to see how the game ends. If we bat and bowl well, the toss doesn’t matter. I seriously had no idea it’s my 100th game as 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 brilliant, but there are moments of pressure where you need to act and so you can’t change the past and you can’t predict the future. The beauty is to be in the moment and see the moment and enjoy the pressure. Two changes came for us (Harpreet) Brar and Lockie (Ferguson),” he added.Jitesh meanwhile provided an important update on Patidar’s fitness status.“We would have liked to bowl first, but the wicket is good and should play well for 40 overs. Rajat is doing brilliantly and we should see him in Hyderabad. Every game is important, this win can change a lot for us and other teams. Suyyash replaces Rajat and Romario replaces Duffy,” said Jitesh.
Why is Rajat Patidar not playing against PBKS?
According to sources, Patidar did not travel to Dharamsala with the squad and also missed both the practice sessions ahead of the RCB-PBKS clash.Jitesh confirmed during the toss that the RCB captain is on the mend and could return for the team’s next game.“Rijat is doing brilliantly and we should see him in Hyderabad,” said Jitesh.RCB will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in their final league stage match on May 22.Patidar has enjoyed an impressive IPL 2026 season so far, scoring 326 runs at a strike rate of 195 in 10 innings, including three half-centuries.The focus will now be on Jitesh, who has struggled with the bat this season. The wicket-keeper batsman has scored only 90 runs in the tournament so far.RCB are currently 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.He has played 12 matches, won 8 and lost 4 and has 16 points with a solid net run rate of +1.053. Playing XI:Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Jacob Bethel, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikal, Venkatesh Iyer, Jitesh Sharma (W/C), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash SharmaPunjab Kings (Playing XI): Priyansh Arya, Prabhasmaran Singh (W), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Air (C), Suryanesh Shidge, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Loki Ferguson, Arshaddeep Singh, Yuzvendra ChahalHere are the Impact Substitutes for both teams:Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact Subs: Rashikh Salam Dar, Jordan Cox, Abhinandan Singh, Swapnal Singh, Kanishk ChauhanPunjab Kings Impact Subs: Marcus Stones, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Mushir Khan, Parveen Dubey
