He was one of the biggest reasons behind RCB's success in 2025.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) all-rounder Krunal Pandya has shown terrific bowling form in the DY Patil T20 Cup 2026. His form comes as a massive boost for the defending champions ahead of IPL 2026.
Krunal has seven wickets at an average of 13.42 and an economy rate of 7.83 in three innings, including a best of 3/50. The all-rounder has also bowled around 36.11% dot balls in the tournament.
Initially, he picked up two wickets against Tata Sports Club before another two-wicket haul against CGST, conceding only 22 runs each in both games. Later, Krunal Pandya was a bit expensive against DTDC in the quarterfinal fixture, leaking as many as 50 runs at an economy rate of 12.50, but got three wickets as well.
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Still, he has shown good form overall and will look to continue the form for RCB, who will look to defend their title this time. Krunal brings ample experience and expertise to the table, and the DY Patil T20 Cup has served as a perfect match practice to get into rhythm ahead of a hectic season.
Krunal Pandya is RCB’s lead spinner, as was the case last season, with the likes of Suyash Sharma and other local bowlers being other options. He showed significant improvements in picking wickets in the previous season; earlier, he was only a quality defensive bowler.
Krunal had 17 wickets at an average of 22.29 and conceded only 8.23 runs per over in 15 innings, with a four-wicket haul. Despite being a finger spinner, he was better than Suyash and did the heavy lifting by providing regular wickets across phases.
In IPL 2026, RCB will again bank on this spin pair since they made fewer changes to the squad and tried to retain the core that helped them win their maiden title. The issue is that teams might be more prepared to go after Suyash, who was rather economical in most games and quietly did his job.
Hence, Krunal Pandya will need to use his skills to shield Suyash at times by bowling tougher overs and against negative matchups as well. He will also be used as a floater since RCB will have only one LHB in the batting unit and would want to break it at some point.
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