Former Indian all-rounder Sanjay Bangar has picked Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s playing XII for the upcoming Indian Premier League 2026. Bangar believes there won’t be a place for Venkatesh Iyer, who was roped in for INR 7 crore in IPL 2026 mini auction.

RCB’s think tank has rated Iyer highly and had made a huge bid for the left-handed batter in IPL 2025 mega auction but eventually he was picked by KKR for a whopping amount of INR 23.75 crore. Bangar reckons Devdutt Padikkal will start ahead of Iyer in the upcoming edition.

“There is no place for him. Just because you have paid a lot of money to buy a good player, it doesn’t mean there is a place for him. Devdutt Padikkal has played crucial knocks,” Sanjay Bangar said on Star Sports.

The former RCB head coach said Padikkal should keep his place in the team. Padikkal scored 247 runs in 10 matches of IPL 2025 at an average of 27.44 and a strike rate of 150.60.

“He wasn’t in form at the start, but he played quick knocks close to the playoffs. So he will continue. They will play the first match with almost the same squad if everyone remains fit,” Bangar observed.

Bangar picked leg-spinner Suyash Sharma as the impact player in his playing XII.

Sanjay Bangar’s RCB playing XII for IPL 2026: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma (impact player).

Bangar reckons Josh Hazlewood’s commitment to the franchise will increase in the tournament as he is at the fag end of his international career.

“The best positive for RCB regarding Hazlewood is that when a player reaches the last phase of his international career, his commitment to the IPL increases because he thinks he wants to extend his career by playing an extra one or two seasons there. So that benefits whichever team has chosen such a player,” he reasoned.

RCB will begin their IPL defense against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Bengaluru on 28th March.