RCB's Class of 2026: Blending pedigree with promise on the IPL stage

Indian all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer and New Zealander Jacob Duffy headlined RCB's list of new signings at the IPL 2026 Auction, as the franchise roped in eight players to complete the Class of 2026.

Despite the early reticence, the first buy of the day was that of Iyer, who only a few hours prior to the auction smashed a 70-run knock against Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, further underlining the potential that RCB have backed in the southpaw to sign him for INR 7 Crore.

RCB’s second signing was seasoned Kiwi campaigner Jacob Duffy. A gun pace bowler with 178 T20 wickets and 53 T20I wickets at an economy rate of 7.36, Duffy, who is the No.2 ranked T20I bowler in the world, was bagged at his base price of INR 2 crore.

The focus then shifted to signing talented youngsters as RCB managed to secure the services of left-arm wrist spinner Satwik Desal for his base price of INR 30 lakh and all-rounder Mangesh Yadav, who produced stunning numbers in the Madhya Pradesh T20 League, for INR 5.2 Crore. England’s hard-hitting batter Jordan Cox, who only recently finished as the Player of the Tournament in the Men's Hundred 2025 tournament with 367 runs at a strike rate of 173 was signed for his base price of INR 75 lakhs as the last overseas player.

The last round of accelerated auction saw RCB rope in three promising youngsters in the form of Kanishk Chouhan, Vicky Ostwal and Vihaan Malhotra. All the three youngsters were snapped up at their base price of INR 30 lakhs.

RCB’s Class of 2026:

Rajat Patidar (C), Virat Kohli, Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salam Dar, Krunal Pandya, Yash Dayal, Tim David, Suyash Sharma, Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Nuwan Thushara, Romario Shepherd, Swapnil Singh, Abhinandan Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Duffy, Satwik Desal, Mangesh Yadav, Jordan Cox, Vicky Ostwal, Kanishk Chouhan and Vihaan Malhotra.