Former India player turned commentator Aakash Chopra has said that the RCB’s IPL 2026 auction buys have an imprint of Rajat Patidar as well. He added that the reigning IPL champions have acquired two Madhya Pradesh players, including Venkatesh Iyer, who hasn’t been in good form recently.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “RCB didn’t have to buy much, and didn’t buy much as well. They love Venkatesh Iyer a lot. RCB and KKR fought for Venkatesh Iyer last time as well. They were fighting this time as well, and RCB won the contest at ₹7 crore this time,” Chopra said.

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“They bought Mangesh Yadav, a left-arm pacer, and I realized that a slight imprint of Rajat Patidar is being seen. They took both MP players. One doesn’t have current form at all, but they said they wanted him, that they like Venky Iyer, and for the second, they said they needed a left-armer because they weren’t sure of what would happen with Yash Dayal,” he further added.

However, Aakash Chopra also stated that Ricky Ponting seemed to be present in the IPL 2026 auction, considering the PBKS bought two more Australian players as well.

“Cooper Connolly, I thought, was a phenomenal buy, and then they bought Ben Dwarshuis. It seemed like Ricky Ponting was there, even though he wasn’t there. I think they have a quota to keep five Australian players, so they have kept the entire five. Marco Jansen spoils their balance a little, but generally they have enough Australian players. I thought they would take another spinner. They went after Rahul Chahar, but eventually they didn’t buy him,” Aakash Chopra concluded.