Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar was not part of the playing XI for the important IPL 2026 match against Punjab Kings in Dharamsala on Sunday, May 17. In his absence, wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma led the team at the toss.

Why Patidar missed PBKS vs RCB clas?

RCB did not officially reveal the exact reason behind Patidar’s absence. However, the batter had reportedly suffered a blow to the head after being hit by a delivery from Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Kartik Tyagi during a previous game. He also missed RCB’s practice sessions ahead of the clash against the Punjab Kings.

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Will Rajat Patidar feature against SRH?

However, during the toss, Jitesh Sharma said that the RCB management is hopeful that Patidar will be seen leading RCB in their next game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). 

“Rajat is doing fantastic now, hopefully he’ll be with us in Hyderabad," Jitesh said at the toss.

PBKS vs RCB Toss

 Coming back to the PBKS vs RCB clash, Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bowl against RCB at HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala. The hosts featured with two chances as Harpreet Brar and Lockie Ferguson come in and for RCB Suyash replaces Rajat and Romario replaces Duffy.

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PBKS vs RCB playing XIs

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Venkatesh Iyer, Jitesh Sharma(w/c), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma.

Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal