Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the defending champions, have retained 17 players and made strategic additions in the IPL 2026 mini-auction. The team focused on strengthening depth by acquiring players like Venkatesh Iyer and Jacob Duffy, along with backups. This marks RCB's first-ever entry into an IPL season as defending champions. A predicted Playing XI and Impact Player list for the upcoming season has been released.