PBKS vs RCB: Why is Rajat Patidar not playing against Punjab? Jitesh Sharma took command of the team

PBKS vs RCB:The 61st match of IPL 2026 was played between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday. In this match played in Dharamshala, RCB team played the match without its regular captain Rajat Patidar. In Patidar’s absence, Jitesh Sharma took command of the team.

Why did Rajat Patidar not play against Punjab?

Actually, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s regular captain Rajat Patidar is injured these days. For this reason he could not be a part of the team in the match against Punjab Kings. Jitesh Sharma, who came for the toss, said that Patidar is feeling much better now and we hope that he will join the team in the next match against Sunrisers Hyderabad and will return to the field. Let us tell you, in this match Suyyash Sharma has been included in the playing 11 in place of Rajat.

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Jitesh has already handled the captaincy of RCB

This is not the first time that Jitesh Sharma is handling the captaincy of Royal Challengers Bangalore. Earlier in IPL 2025 also, he had captained RCB against Lucknow Super Giants. In that match against Lucknow, Jitesh played an important role in Bengaluru’s victory by playing a captaincy inning of 85 runs in 33 balls.

Was injured in the last match

Let us tell you, RCB’s regular captain Rajat Patidar was injured in the last match. In this match played against KKR, a sharp bouncer from Karthik Tyagi hit him directly on the back of his helmet. However, after this match, Patidar declared himself fine. According to reports, as a precautionary measure he has not reached Dharamshala with RCB.