Former India opener Kris Srikkanth left Venkatesh Iyer out while picking his Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) line-up for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Srikkanth picked RCB’s playing XII, keeping in mind the Impact Player rule.
Venkatesh joined RCB after spending five seasons at the Kolkata Knight Riders. He was roped in for INR 7 crore at the IPL 2026 mini auction after the Knights released him. Srikkanth also took into account the injury sustained by Josh Hazlewood, which ruled him out of the recently concluded T20 World Cup and will also force him to miss the first few games in the IPL.
In a video on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth went with the successful pair of Phil Salt and Virat Kohli at the top of the order. They amassed 403 and 657 runs last season, respectively. While Jacob Bethell displayed better form during the T20 World Cup than Salt, Srikkanth persisted with the latter.
Following this star duo, Srikkanth picked Devdutt Padikkal at No. 3 and skipper Rajat Patidar at No. 4. They had topsy-turvy campaigns with the bat last year but eventually finished with a decent combined total of 559 runs.
Tim David, Jitesh Sharma, and Romario Shepherd were the three hard-hitting middle-order batters chosen by Srikkanth. All three of them impressed during the previous edition of the IPL, where RCB lifted the title for the first time. They had strike rates of 185.15, 176.35 and 291.67, respectivey.
In the spin-bowling department, Srikkanth paired Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma. While both of them did well and picked up a combined 25 wickets, it was Krunal who made a bigger impact, picking up 17 wickets in 15 matches at an average off 22.29.
As for the seamers, Srikkanth named Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the line-up and gave him a new partner in Jacob Duffy. The former India chief selector feels that Yash Dayal would be the Impact Sub.
Srikkanth’s RCB playing XI to start IPL 2026:
Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (C), Tim David, Jitesh Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Suyash Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy.
Impact Sub: Lockie Ferguson.
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