IPL 2026: Why is Rajat Patidar not playing PBKS vs RCB Match 61?

Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru are playing in Match No. 61 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 on Sunday, May 17, at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala. The encounter will be the first meeting between the two sides in this season. 

The defending champions, RCB, are on a roll this season, winning 8 of their first 12 matches. They are coming off after a clinical victory against KKR and are just one win away from clinching the playoffs spot. 

PBKS, on the other hand, are having a horrible run after a stunning start to their season. They have lost five of their last five games and are under immense pressure. If they lose against RCB, their qualification chances will reduce drastically. 

PBKS vs RCB: Toss Update

PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl first. He said that the team should enjoy the pressure and stay in the present (referring to his side’s poor run of form in their last five matches) while backing his bowlers. Iyer was confident of batting first as well. This is Shreyas Iyer’s 100th IPL game as captain. 

PBKS vs RCB: Rajat Patidar ruled out; Suyash Sharma, Romario come in

In a big update, RCB captain Rajat Patidar has been ruled out of this contest. He travelled to Dharamsala but is not available for the game, likely due to symptoms of concussion after being hit by Kartik Tyagi in the previous fixture against Kolkata Knight Riders in Raipur. In his absence, wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma is leading RCB, like he did last year on a couple of occasions.

Suyash Sharma and Romario Shepherd have made their way into the XI. For PBKS, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, and Vishnu Vinod were dropped from the XI, with Harpreet Brar and Lockie Ferguson replacing them. 

PBKS vs RCB: What did the captains say?

Shreyas Iyer, PBKS captain,

We’re going to bowl. I’m not going by the stats, we’re clearly seeing how the games pan out. If we bat and bowl well, the toss doesn’t matter. I seriously had no clue that this was my 100th game as a captain but it feels great. It feels like a great opportunity for me to win my 100th game (as captain). The bowling has been fantastic, but there are pressure moments where you need to execute and so you can’t change the past, nor you can’t anticipate the future. The beauty is to stay in the moment and see the moment and enjoy the pressure. Two changes for us (Harpreet) Brar and Lockie (Ferguson) come in.

Jitesh Sharma, RCB captain,

We would have loved to bowl first, but the wicket is good and should play well for 40 overs. Rajat is doing fantastic and we should see him in Hyderabad. We are at the business end of the tournament, and I’m happy with how the team is performing, both individually and as an unit. Yes, we are very pleased that the team looks so stable right now. We are giving our absolute best in every department. One win tonight secures our spot in the playoffs, so it’s a massive game for us. Every game is important at this stage. This win can change the entire table – not just for us, but for several other teams as well. Suyash replaces Rajat and Romario replaces Duffy.

PBKS vs RCB: Playing XIs

Punjab Kings

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

Impact Players: Musheer Khan, Vishnu Vinod, Xavier Bartlett, Marcus Stoinis, Praveen Dubey

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Venkatesh Iyer, Jitesh Sharma (c/wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma

Impact Players: Swapnil Singh, Rasikh Salam, Jordan Cox, Abhinandan Singh, Kanishk Chouhan