Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have confirmed that rape-accused Yash Dayal will not join the squad for IPL 2026.
Yash Dayal, who was retained by defending champions RCB ahead of the IPL 2026 season, will not join the squad as “he is going through a personal situation currently,” Mo Bobat, the franchise’s director of cricket, confirmed in a pre-season press conference.
The left-arm pacer notably has a POCSO case registered against him, which deals with sexual assault against minors. A special POCSO court in Jaipur, Rajasthan, had rejected his anticipatory bail plea in December 2025 over the alleged rape of a minor. Dayal is also facing sexual abuse charges from a woman in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
RCB received significant backlash after they decided to retain him ahead of last year’s mini-auction. Subsequently, he wasn’t spotted with the team at their pre-season camp in Bengaluru, leading to speculation over his future with the franchise.
We went into our auction planning for the worst-case scenario: RCB director Mo Bobat on Yash Dayal situation
Bobat has now cleared the air, confirming that he will not be joining the RCB squad, but remains under contract.
"Yash will not be joining the squad, as you know, he is going through a personal situation currently," he said. "Just to clarify, we have been very supportive of Yash to date, and that's reflected in the fact that we have retained him whenever we have had the opportunity to retain him. And he remains under contract.
"We have been communicating with him regularly, and I spoke with him earlier today as well. But it has been decided that it is not in his or franchise's best interest at this point in time to join with the squad."
"We went into our auction planning for the worst-case scenario," Bobat added. RCB, notably, signed Madhya Pradesh's left-arm pacer Mangesh Yadav for INR 5.20 crore at the IPL 2026 auction, and he will likely replace Dayal in the XI.
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