Rajat Patidar, Krunal Pandya, Jitesh Sharma, Suyash Sharma, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are prominent names preparing for the title defence under the coaching staff led by Andy Flower, but Dayal’s mysterious absence has already raised eyebrows.There are pictures of RCB’s team bus circulating on social media, and Dayal is not visible in those, either. Additionally, the multiple social media posts by the franchise do not mention the bowler.In a video uploaded by his wife, Shweta Pundir, on Instagram, Dayal can be seen receiving throwdowns from a side-arm specialist, but he seemed far away from the action in Bengaluru.

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TimesofIndia.com reached out to multiple RCB officials for an update on Dayal, but they are yet to respond. The franchise retained the cricketer for Rs 5 crore ahead of last year’s mini-auction in Jeddah and received significant backlash because of the legal case against the cricketer at that time.Dayal’s last competitive appearance was in June 2025 when he played for RCB in the IPL final against the Punjab Kings. Since then, the bowler has been sidelined from competitive cricket. Uttar Pradesh did not consider him for the entire domestic season. It has been learnt that the BCCI Centre of Excellence contacted the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) last September to check on the bowler, but the officials could not establish contact with him. “The case was going on against him, so he wasn’t considered for selection. I remember there was a call from CoE checking on him in September, but we weren’t able to establish any contact with Yash Dayal. He has even changed his number. Even his childhood coach doesn’t know his whereabouts,” a UPCA official tells TimesofIndia.com. It remains to be seen whether or not he will feature for the RCB in this year’s IPL.

Head coach Abhishek Nayar admitted Rana’s absence will be tough to handle, given his importance to the team in recent seasons.“It is a big blow because Harshit Rana has been an integral part of this team for the last couple of seasons, also the championship season. Over the last year, he’s really grown as a cricketer,” Nayar told reporters in the pre-season press conference.“We will always miss Harshit Rana, it’s not easy to replace him. But over the last few days, we’ve looked at a few bowlers as to who fits in and who can do that role to the best of their prowess. Hopefully, we’ll take a call in a couple of days,” he added.KKR have been trying out several pacers in training as they search for the right replacement.

More injury concerns for KKR?

To make matters worse, Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana is also recovering from injury and is yet to be cleared to play, adding to KKR’s worries.However, there is some positive news around spinner Varun Chakravarthy. Despite an expensive outing in the T20 World Cup, captain Ajinkya Rahane backed him to bounce back.“I don’t see any problem with Varun’s bowling ability… In the T20 World Cup, opposition batters played him (Varun Chakravarthy) really well. Let’s give credit to them rather than talking about Varun,” Rahane said.“I think this 10-day break really helped him after especially coming after a high-intensity tournament to another high-intensity tournament,” Rahane added.With the season starting soon, KKR will hope to overcome these challenges quickly.

During the session, Jaiswal looked completely at ease despite his lack of rest, confidently taking on Jadeja and sending the ball into the stands. The reaction from Jadeja added to the moment, as he couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed.“Abhi keh raha tha neend nahi hui raatko. Room mei practice karke aaya hai yeh (He was just saying he hadn’t slept well at night. But he’s come after practicing in the room),” said Jadeja.Watch:The clip quickly spread across social media, with fans praising Jaiswal’s fearless approach and natural attacking ability, which has already made him a key player for the franchise.

Royals eye strong comeback

Rajasthan Royals will be hoping such signs translate into performances on the field after a disappointing IPL 2025 season, where they finished near the bottom despite Jaiswal scoring 559 runs. The team has made several changes, including bringing in experienced all-rounder Jadeja, while also dealing with the absence of Sam Curran due to injury.There is also excitement around young talent Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who impressed last season with his aggressive batting, including a record-breaking century. With a mix of youth and experience, Rajasthan Royals will be aiming to turn things around in IPL 2026, and moments like Jaiswal’s in practice offer early optimism for fans.

Speaking on the Mbangwa Media YouTube channel, De Villiers explained that their bond was built on a shared DNA of extreme competitiveness. Once they joined forces at RCB in 2011, they realised they were cut from the same cloth. “We realised we played a similar kind of game, had a similar kind of outlook on the game, similar kind of competitiveness, and really enjoyed batting together, running between the wickets, understanding of cricket and just wanting to win,” De Villiers stated.However, that elite mentality had a flip side. De Villiers admitted that their inability to detach from the result often worked against them, leading to a mental exhaustion that made every loss feel like a personal failure.“Both of us were probably naughty of wanting it too much, as maybe our biggest downfall of our careers is wanting the team to win too much, and it sort of affected us so much that we would take it personally when we lose,” he confessed.Last season, Kohli finally won the elusive IPL title. “So that’s maybe… well, at least he got some trophies. I didn’t get a lot,” De Villiers added with a touch of characteristic humility.As RCB prepare for a title-defending campaign in 2026, De Villiers’ words serve as a reminder of the thin line between passion and pressure. For years, the Kohli-ABD era was defined by this “naughty” desire to win, a trait that made them legends, even if it occasionally made the weight of the game too heavy to bear.