5 players Royal Challengers Bengaluru might release before IPL 2026 auction ft Liam Livingstone

The title-winners of the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), blew away the Punjab Kings in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad to show their dominance in what turned out to be a balanced season. For the entire campaign, they got the right playing eleven under the leadership of Rajat Patidar and head coach Andy Flower. 

Bengaluru finished the group stage of the two-month campaign at the top spot, thanks to nine victories in 14 encounters at a net run rate of +0.372. One of the franchise's significant achievements was winning all of their away games in the season, which showed how balanced they were in every aspect.

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In the last nine fixtures of the IPL 2025, Bengaluru collected seven victories with just one defeat and one abandoned clash against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Most of their squad looks settled, but they could need to leave a few players to fill the gaps.

Let’s take a look at the five players Royal Challengers Bengaluru might release ahead of the IPL 2026, featuring Liam Livingstone.

5. Liam Livingstone

The 32-year-old England spin all-rounder, Liam Livingstone, came into the RCB side during the last mega auction for INR 8.75 crore, as many predicted the lower order batter to smash the big shots in the death overs, but he couldn’t match the expectations and ended with 112 runs in eight innings with the bat at a strike rate of 133.33 along with one fifty.

Liam could go back to the auction and come back for Bengaluru at a lower price. After all, his experience of 7356 runs in 298 T20 innings at an average of 28.18 and a strike rate of 144.71, besides 143 wickets in 179 innings at an economy rate of 8.46, could be valuable for any side in the shortest format.

4. Rasikh Salam

The Bengaluru was keen to get the pace bowling all-rounder, Rasikh Salam Dar, for a huge price of INR 6 crore ahead of IPL 2025, but it turned out to be a horrible decision. The right-arm pacer featured in just two games for the franchise and collected one solitary wicket. In six overs across the two games, he leaked 70 runs at an economy rate of nearly 12.

With limited chances and not much impact of the pacer, Rasikh could prove to be one of the players in the list of RCB to get released ahead of the 2026 edition. With the kind of amount, it will be better to invest in some other options. Rasikh has 45 wickets in 36 T20 innings at an economy rate of 8.52.

3. Suyash Sharma

Playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2023, the mystery spinner, Suyash Sharma, grabbed the headlines 2023, having picked up 10 wickets in 11 innings at an economy rate of just over eight. But, in the last season, the right-arm spinner collected eight wickets in 14 innings of the IPL for Bengaluru at an economy rate of just under nine.

Suyash came to the team for INR 2.6 crore. He had rare great performances, including the three wickets he picked against Punjab in the first qualifier, but for the entire season, he failed to find consistency and struggled to find the right line and length. That could put him among the released players for RCB.

2. Nuwan Thusara

Bengaluru signed the Sri Lankan pacer, Nuwan Thusara, for INR 1.60 crore. The plan was to keep him intact for most parts of the death overs or as a replacement for Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood. But both went through a fine season, making it hard for the Sri Lankan star to feature in the event.

Thusara played one solitary game in the last season of the IPL and picked up 1/26 in four overs. If they don’t want an extra player in that department, then it could be smart to release Thusara and go with other players in the auction.

1. Lungi Ngidi

The South African pacer, Lungi Ngidi, could be another bowler to get released by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru ahead of the IPL 2026. The right-arm pacer, who had a successful 2018 season with Chennai thanks to 11 wickets in seven innings, grabbed four wickets in two innings at an economy rate of over 10.

Ngidi has picked up 190 T20 wickets in 145 innings at an average of 21.34 and an economy rate of 8.37. Bengaluru could even think of releasing the pacer and bringing some other options in the department, which would make their title defense even more dominating for the 2026 season. Only twice have teams been able to successfully defend their IPL title, and the RCB side could be the third in the list.