IPL 2026: Why Jitesh Sharma leads Royal Challengers Bengaluru instead of Rajat Patidar during PBKS vs RCB? Explained

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were forced to bench regular captain Rajat Patidar in their Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter against Punjab Kings at Dharamsala on Sunday. Instead of Patidar, wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma walked out for the coin toss on a sunny afternoon alongside Punjab Kings counterpart Shreyas Iyer.

With 16 points from 12 games, RCB are sitting atop the IPL 2026 points table and Patidar absence against Punjab Kings is a huge blow to the defending champions. A win on Sunday will seal RCB's spot in the playoffs. On the other hand, fourth-placed Punjab Kings are on a five-match winless streak and need a win to secure their spot in the last four.

Asked about Patidar's absence, Jitesh informed that he will be available against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last league-stage game. “Rajat is doing fantastic and we should see him in Hyderabad,” Jitesh said at the coin toss. “This win can change the entire table - not just for us, but for several other teams as well. Suyash replaces Rajat and Romario replaces Duffy,” he added.

Why is Rajat Patidar not playing vs PBKS?

According to a TOI report, Patidar didn't travel to Dharamsala with the RCB squad and had also missed both the practice sessions ahead of the clash. This is not the first time Jitesh is leading RCB in an IPL game. Earlier in IPL 2025, Jitesh led the side against Lucknow Super Giants when Patidar played as an impact substitute at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.

Leading the side, Jitesh had an instant impact with a knock of 85 not out in just 33 balls, including eight fours and six sixes to lead RCB to a memorable chase and won the game by six wickets.

Shreyas Iyer leads in 100th game as captain

Speaking at the coin toss, the Punjab Kings captain was unaware of the milestone. We're going to bowl. I'm not going by the stats, we're clearly seeing how the games pan out. If we bat and bowl well, the toss doesn't matter. I seriously had no clue that this was my 100th game as a captain but it feels great," Iyer said.

“It feels like a great opportunity for me to win my 100th game (as captain). The beauty is to stay in the moment and see the moment and enjoy the pressure. Two changes for us (Harpreet) Brar and Lockie (Ferguson) come in,” added the Punjab Kings skipper.

PBKS vs RCB playing XIs

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Venkatesh Iyer, Jitesh Sharma(w/c), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma

Punjab Kings: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

PBKS vs RCB Impact Subs

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Rasikh Salam Dar, Jordan Cox, Abhinandan Singh, Swapnil Singh, Kanishk Chouhan

Punjab Kings: Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Musheer Khan, Praveen Dubey

Catch the live updates from IPL 2026 with the complete IPL 2026 Schedule and the IPL 2026 Points Table. Also, know who are currently leading the charts in IPL 2026 Orange Cap and IPL 2026 Purple Cap.