Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan believes the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) should acquire solid backup options for Aussie pacer Josh Hazlewood and India's left-arm seamer Yash Dayal in the IPL 2026 auction. Yet, barring those, Pathan feels RCB already has a championship-winning roster after the retention deadline.
Hazlewood and Dayal played massive roles in RCB's title run earlier this year with a combined 35 wickets. They released six players from their squad ahead of the auction next month, while retaining almost all their sure-starters.
Talking about RCB's auction plans on his YouTube channel, Pathan said (15:10):
"They've sent out Liam Livingstone because they've plenty of overseas options. Jacob Bethell will also not make the playing XI unless there is an injury. The only thing they've to keep in mind is Hazlewood would have also played a lot of cricket. So having a backup for Hazlewood will be essential. Also Yash Dayal hasn't played any cricket since the IPL and is facing a lot of off the field issues. So having that backup is crucial for RCB. But they look like a champion side and ready to play."
Pathan finally shared his potential RCB 11 with the Impact Sub for next season as follows:
Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Tim David, Jitesh Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood
Irfan Pathan believes the Rajasthan Royals (RR) have a few holes to fill in their squad in the upcoming IPL 2026 auction. The franchise made a blockbuster trade by giving away their skipper, Sanju Samson, for the all-round duo Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran from the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
"They only have one spot to worry about because the arrival of Sam Curran and Ravindra Jadeja has made a significant difference. It'll come down to how captaincy works for RR. Captaincy will dictate how the games play out and the kind of atmosphere that prevails," said Pathan (via the aforementioned source).
He concluded:
"They'll need another spinner and preferably another experienced fast-bowler. They'll need Archer's back up as he'll come after playing a lot of cricket. So you'll need workload management and hence another fast bowler that can bowl fast. They could use Burger as Archer's backup too. Jadeja's arrival has lengthened their batting lineup. At 9, they'll need a spinner. They could go for Ravi Bishnoi or Rahul Chahar."
RR endured a dismal IPL 2025 season, finishing second-to-bottom on the points table.
Pathan's RR Playing XI for IPL 2026 with the spots to be filled: