Bengaluru, March 24 (IANS) Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have been dealt a blow ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 as the franchise confirmed on Tuesday that the fast bowler Yash Dayal will miss the entire tournament due to personal reasons.

Dayal’s absence from the training sessions and his not featuring on the team bus poster had already sparked rumours over his absence, with many wondering where the bowler was. Now RCB’s director of cricket, Mo Bobat, has cleared all the doubts over his absence.

Bobat has also said that despite Dayal not taking part in the tournament, he will still be a part of the contract, and the team management will continue to support the player in tough times.

“So, just to confirm that Yash will not be joining up with the squad. As you know, he is going through a personal situation currently, 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 in the short term to remain under contract,” Bobat told the media during a press conference on Tuesday. “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.”

“He retains our support, and he remains under contract, and we’ll continue to speak to him as he goes through his personal situation,” he added.

Dayal, recently tied the knot with social media influencer Shweta Pundir in a primate ceremony, has been at the centre of major controversies of late. He was denied anticipatory bail a few months ago after he was involved in a case where he allegedly raped a minor.

The controversy started in July 2025 when a lawsuit was brought against him for allegedly exploiting a woman under the guise of marriage. Later, a new case under the POSCO Act surfaced in Jaipur.

Meanwhile, RCB will start their campaign in the IPL 2026 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on March 28 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

–IANS

sds/bc