IPL cricket is only days away now. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad will clash in the opening match-up of the season. Just like every other sport, the road to the launch of the season is not smooth for any franchise. Here are the latest updates on Yash Dayal, David Payne, Ottneil Baartman, and the Rajasthan Royals.
Rajasthan Royals Sold to Consortium
The Rajasthan Royals have been bought by a consortium with NFL ties.
USA-based entrepreneur Kal Somani is part of a consortium that has purchased the IPL franchise for $1.63 billion dollars. The Times of India reports that Rob Walton and the Hamp family are also part of this consortium. The Hamp family has a majority stake in the Detroit Lions, an NFL team.
Additionally, Walton owns the Denver Broncos, another NFL team. This consortium would take over as owners of RR following the 2026 season, according to KSR of The Times of India.
RR finished the 2025 season in ninth place with a 4-10 win-loss record. They were eight points shy of qualifying for the playoffs, collecting only eight points during the season.
Who is Kal Somani? How Much is His Net Worth? Will He Buy the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, too?
According to his LinkedIn profile, Somani is the founder of IntraEdge, Truyo.Ai, and Academian. He is also the co-owner of Motor City Golf Club.
On February 26th, there was a report that Somani was part of a group interested in purchasing RCB. With this information in mind, it makes sense that the Indian-born tech entrepreneur would be part of a consortium purchasing RR. At that time, nine to 10 bidders were thought to be considering the purchase.
There is no publicly available figure revealing how much Somani is worth.
However, the companies he owns are a different story. IntraEdge is reportedly worth between $50 million and $689 million. As for Truyo.Ai, that company reached $2.5 million in revenue in 2025.
David Payne Shares Message of Excitement For IPL Season
There have been major injuries coming to several IPL squads in the lead-up to the launch of the 2026 season. However, the IPL has confirmed two new injury replacements.
On March 24th, 2026, the IPL sent out a media advisory about two injury replacements in Saurabh Dubey and David Payne.
“Saurabh, a left-arm pacer, will replace Akash at KKR. He will join KKR for INR 30 Lakh,” IPL’s statement reads. “Meanwhile, Payne is an injury replacement for Jack Edwards at SRH. Payne has played one ODI for England, in addition to 233 T20s, scalping 304 wickets from the same. He will join SRH for INR 1.5 Crore.”
Payne shared a message on X, showing his excitement for the upcoming season.
Payne has three seasons of T20 experience in Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL). In the 2025-26 season, he played in six matches. Payne took 11 wickets on 138 balls, posting a 6.47 Economy, with his best figure being a 3/18.
Spencer Johnson Over Ottneil Baartman?
Ottneil Baartman remains unsigned by an IPL team at this time. Earlier in the week, there were rumors that he would replace Nathan Ellis of the Chennai Super Kings.
However, Spencer Johnson has also been linked to CSK as an injury replacement for Ellis. Is there more to this story? Considering that Johnson was first linked to CSK, it’s likely that he will join the franchise. Moreover, Johnson went unsold in the 2026 IPL auction, while Baartman did not register.
Now, the IPL has confirmed CSK signing Johnson.
RCB Give Big Yash Dayal Update
Mo Babat gave a big update on the status of RCB’s bowler, Yash Dayal.
“It’s not in his and the franchise’s best interest to join the squad, due to the personal situation he is dealing with,” the RCB director of cricket said in a statement. Because of this, Dayal will not play in the 2026 IPL season.
Dayal was accused of sexual abuse in July 2025. He was one of 16 players retained by RCB in November 2025, just a few months later.
This is obviously a situation to monitor closely, as it is a serious matter for the team, the player, and the victim.
IPL 2026 News & Rumors: Ottneil Baartman, David Payne, Kal Somani-Consortium Buys RR