Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru suffered another blow on the eve of the IPL opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad, with pacer Nuwan Thushara being ruled out of the initial phase of the event starting on Saturday. RCB have already lost Yash Dayal, and question marks remain over Josh Hazlewood‘s participation at the beginning of the league.
According to a Cricinfo report, the pacer was ruled out after failing a mandatory Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) fitness test. He was denied a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) by the SLC after failing to meet the required fitness standards.
As per the report, Thushara failed to score the minimum 17 out of 29 points in the SLC fitness test.
The 31-year-old played a solitary match in the previous season. However, in that game, Thushara impressed, returning excellent figures of 1/26 in four overs against Lucknow Super Giants, who amassed 230.
RCB play their second game, against Chennai Super Kings on April 5, in Bengaluru.
Thushara will be allowed to reappear for the test after four to five days, but if he fails that too, he could be ruled out of the entire season.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru full squad for IPL 2026: Abhinandan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Devdutt Padikkal, Jacob Bethell, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Krunal Pandya, Nuwan Thushara, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar, Rasikh Dar, Romario Shepherd, Suyash Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Virat Kohli, Vihaan Malhotra (Rs 30 lakh), Jordan Cox (Rs 75 lakh), Venkatesh Iyer (Rs 7 Cr), Satvik Deswal (Rs 30 lakh), Mangesh Yadav (Rs 5.20 Cr), Vicky Ostwal (Rs 30 lakh), Kanishk Chouhan (Rs 30 lakh), Jacob Duffy (Rs 2 Cr).