RCB Suffer Big Blow as Nuwan Thushara Ruled Out From IPL 2026 — 3 Players Who Could Replace Sri Lanka Pacer in Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad

Sri Lankan pacer Nuwan Thushara has been ruled out of the 19th season of the Indian Premier League, landing a huge blow to Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s title defence. The Sri Lankan pacer joined a big list of players being ruled out of the IPL 2026. He was a perfect back-up to Josh Hazlewood, who had to miss a few games in the previous season. Hazlewood will again miss the initial set of games, and RCB will be looking at Thushara’s replacement. 

The 31-year-old played a solitary game in the previous season. However, in that solitary game, Thushara impressed with a wicket and gave away 26 runs in his four overs. In a game where Lucknow Super Giants scored 230, the spell from the Sri Lankan pacer proved to be a match-winning one.

Three players who could replace Nuwan Thushara

Given Josh Hazlewood’s unavailability, Nuwan Thushara’s replacement could go on to prove a crucial role as RCB aims to become only the third team to defend its IPL title. With injuries in different teams as well, the back-up options to choose from have slimmed. 

With slightly smaller dimensions of the Chinnaswamy Stadium, it makes sense for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru to go with a pacer rather than replacing Thushara with a spinner. Some of the prominent options in the market that could be looked at as replacements are the following:

Ottneil Baartman

Ottneil Baartman, having recently earned the tag of the best death bowler in South Africa by Keshav Maharaj, could very well be the leading option among the replacements. The pacer could take over the duties to bowl in the death overs, with Yash Dayal being unavailable for the entirety of the season. In 21 T20Is, the right-arm pacer has picked up 29 wickets while going at an economy of 8 runs per over. In T20s, in 115 games, Baartman has been pretty impressive with a tally of 164 wickets and an economy of less than 7.5 runs per over. 

Gerald Coetzee

Baartman is followed on this list by fellow countryman, Gerald Coetzee. The right-arm pacer has been one of the most exciting prospects among pacers from around the world. In 18 T20Is, Coetzee has picked up 22 wickets. The 25-year-old tends to be expensive but carries the ability to pick wickets at regular intervals.

Josh Tongue

For many, Josh Tongue seems to be an out-of-the-box player for a T20 league like the IPL. The pacer has been one of the better bowlers in the current English test team. However, Tongue is yet to represent his national side in white-ball cricket. But with Josh Hazlewood paving the way for test bowlers performing well in the IPL, Tongue could be looked at as the replacement for Thushara. In 21 T20Is, Tongue has picked up 29 wickets, and he strikes on average every 12.5 balls.

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