Mo Bobat confirms Yash Dayal won't join RCB squad, remains under contract

Yash Dayal will not be part of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru squad for IPL 2026, director of cricket Mo Bobat confirmed. Bobat stated the left-arm seamer is dealing with a personal situation and will not join the team at this time, but remains under contract with the franchise.

"Just to confirm that Yash will not be joining the squad. He's going through a personal situation. We've been very supportive of Yash, which is reflected in us retaining him. He remains under contract and we are communicating with him regularly," said Bobat at a pre-tournament press conference.

"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. He retains our support and remains under contract."

Josh Hazlewood's Status

RCB will also be without star pacer Josh Hazlewood at the start of the tournament as he recovers from hamstring and Achilles injuries.

"Josh has missed quite a bit of cricket recently. He's currently working through a return to play programme in Australia. We are liaising very closely with both Josh and Cricket Australia, and our medical teams are collaborating on this daily," said Bobat.

"We hope to have him with us very soon."

Domestic Bowling Options

Bobat indicated Dayal's absence opens opportunities for domestic bowlers like Rasikh Salam, Mangesh Yadav, and Abhinandan Singh.

"We went into our auction planning for a scenario where Yash might not be available. We have recruited accordingly and have some excellent domestic fast bowlers in our squad," said Bobat.

"Domestically we have three excellent potential options. It's a blow losing a player like Yash, but we're very confident in the options we've got."