IPL 2026: Jitesh Sharma leads RCB against PBKS
What's the story
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are without their regular captain, Rajat Patidar, for the crucial IPL 2026 match against Punjab Kings. The dashing batter was not fit enough to take the field, and the same was confirmed at the toss. Wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma will hence lead the team at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Sunday. This is indeed a massive blow for RCB, as Patidar was in fine touch with the bat this season.
Leadership shift
Patidar out for crucial clash
Patidar has been one of Bengaluru's top performers this season, scoring 337 runs in 12 matches at a strike rate of 192.57 with three half-centuries under his belt. However, Jitesh confirmed that the regular skipper will be available for RCB's last league game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. "Rajat is doing fantastic, and we should see him in Hyderabad," he said at the toss.
Match importance
RCB aim for playoff ticket
RCB currently sit at the top of the IPL 2026 points table with eight wins from 12 games, and a win today would officially secure their place in the playoffs. The team heads into this match on a high after winning their last two games. It must be noted that RCB have also been missing the services of their dashing opener Phil Salt in recent games.
Line-ups
Here are the line-ups for both teams
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Venkatesh Iyer, Jitesh Sharma (c & wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma. Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (c), Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Captaincy record
Jitesh's previous captaincy stint in IPL
This isn't the first time Jitesh has captained RCB in IPL. In the 2025 season, he led the side against Lucknow Super Giants in a high-scoring chase. On that occasion, Jitesh scored an unbeaten 85 off just 33 balls to help RCB chase down a daunting target of 227. However, he has been woefully out of form this season, managing only 90 runs at an average of 10.