Why Did RCB Drop Their Highest Wicket Taker Jacob Duffy Against LSG?

The defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru are playing their fifth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 against Lucknow Super Giants. RCB skipper Rajat Patidar won the toss and opted to field first, however, he also announced a surprising change in playing XI.

Star pacer Jacob Duffy has been dropped from the RCB vs LSG IPL 2026 match in Bengaluru. This was the only major change in this match with LSG opting to go with the same playing 11.

Why Jacob Duffy is Not Playing Today?

No one expected that RCB would drop their highest wicket-taker of the season, Jacob Duffy, from the match. However, the team management had to take this harsh decision and Duffy lost his place in the playing XI to make place for the veteran Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood.

Hazlewood is comparatively more experienced than Duffy in terms of bowling in the powerplay as well as the death overs. He also played a vital role in Royal Challengers Bengaluru's title win last year. With him being fit, the team management decided to go with their first-choice fast bowler and named him as Jacob Duffy replacement.

The Jacob Duffy dropped call wouldn't have been easy for the RCB management. However, given the overseas player rule, only one of them could feature in the final playing 11. Hazlewood, being one of the best bowlers in IPL, now has a big role to play for his team this season.

Jacob Duffy's Excellent IPL Season

Jacob Duffy has been an excellent addition to the RCB squad for IPL 2026. The NZ pacer, who is one of the best T20 bowlers going around, has been brilliant, especially with the new ball. He was the Player of the Match in the IPL 2026 opener with figures of 3-22 in four overs.

In the next two matches, however, he proved to be expensive and conceded more than 50 runs in his full quota. When Hazlewood was unavailable, Jacob Duffy did a superb job for the RCB and went on to pick up 6 wickets in three matches. Despite missing this game, he is still amongst the top 10 list of IPL purple cap holders this year.

In the upcoming matches, Duffy will have a key role to play for RCB given Hazlewood's injury-prone nature. With two of the highest quality T20 bowlers in their squad, RCB look like a well-oiled unit this year.