Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) pacer Yash Dayal has been circled by scandals in his life. He is currently being accused of physical abuse cases in two different states of India, one of which includes a POCSO violation. He has been absent from RCB’s initial training sessions.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru has been troubled with injury woes ahead of the upcoming IPL season, where they would defend their title for the first time in the IPL. However, Yash Dayal’s absence has made the social media buzz several rumours on the player being released by RCB ahead of the 2026 edition of the competition.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru ended their 18-year-long wait and gave their loyal fans something to celebrate after the wait of nearly two decades. The Rajat Patidar-led side defeated Shreyas Iyer‘s Punjab Kings to win their maiden title in 2025.
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Why is Yash Dayal absent from RCB training sessions?
Yash Dayal surfaced as a lead fast bowler for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the previous IPL season of 2025. Dayal was picked by RCB after the Gujarat Titans released him following a terrible season, where he was hit for five sixes in a single over as well.
Dayal’s confidence grew under Virat Kohli’s guidance, and the bowler emerged as a great option in the death for the Challengers. Dayal mostly operated in the death overs alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Josh Hazlewood was used mostly with the new ball.
However, after a victorious campaign in 2025, when Yash picked 13 wickets and contributed significantly to his team’s success, he was booked under physical abuse cases by two girls across different states in India.
The pacer was not seen in RCB’s first training session at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Recently, the pictures of RCB’s team bus for the upcoming season flooded social media and Yash Dayal was not seen featuring in that as well. This gave fans the license to speculate that he might have been released by RCB ahead of the upcoming season due to his ongoing legal troubles.
RCB have not reacted to the issue and has yet to issue any statement in this regard.
Controversies surrounding Yash Dayal since IPL 2025
Just days after RCB’s victorious campaign in IPL 2025, two tragic incidents struck the camp. One was the unfortunate stampede that occurred at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, which led to widespread accusations.
The second one was humiliating, as one of their frontline players, Yash Dayal, was accused of physical and sexual abuse by two different women. One of them was a minor, and hence, he was booked under the POCSO Act, which ensures the safety and protection of children against sexual offenses.
He was repeatedly denied bail by the lower courts, but later in January 2026, the Jaipur High Court granted him anticipatory bail in one of the cases. However, the investigation is still in process, and the player has not been part of any domestic structure for nearly a year.
As per media reports and a short reel uploaded by Social media influencer Shweta Pundir, Dayal got married to her in a private ceremony in Noida last month on the 4th of February.
What are RCB’s options if they sideline Yash Dayal from the Playing XI in 2026?
The Challengers might consider sidelining the left-arm pacer, but under those circumstances, they need to pick players from their bench who are ready to create a similar impact as Yash Dayal. The bowler was recently seen training alone in a viral social media video.
RCB looked to make a massive investment in Mangesh Yadav, a player from Madhya Pradesh who is a left-arm quick-bowling all-rounder. RCB picked the debutant for a whopping INR 5.2 crores, with remarkably zero domestic experience.
They will also have the likes of Rasikh Dar, who can be used as a frontline bowler this season after being benched the last time. Abhinandan Singh is another medium pacer in the team, who was picked by the scouts from the UP T20 League, even before he made his debut for UP in the State team.
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