RCB rope in 38-year-old Richard Gleeson at 1.6 crore as the Thushara saga closes
Royal Challengers Bengaluru finally closed out the Nuwan Thushara saga on Friday, announcing 38-year-old England seamer Richard Gleeson as the Sri Lankan's replacement for the rest of IPL 2026 at a fee of 1.6 crore.
The signing wraps a chapter that has hung over RCB since March. Sri Lanka Cricket withheld Thushara's no-objection certificate after he fell short on the board's new mandatory fitness standards, including the 2-km run benchmark. The pacer dragged SLC to the Colombo District Court to force the issue, but withdrew his case on April 23 after telling the bench that much of the IPL had already passed him by. He played a single game for RCB in 2025 and never reported for duty this season.
A late audition for a familiar face
Gleeson is not new to the IPL. He played two matches for Chennai Super Kings in 2024 and turned out once for Mumbai Indians the following year. The Blackpool-born quick, who only turned professional in his late twenties after a stint as a landscape gardener, made his England debut in 2022 and finished with nine T20I wickets across six caps before falling out of the international picture.
His recent form is the more relevant pitch. Gleeson picked up 12 wickets in nine matches at PSL 2026 and has been a fixture in the Hundred for MI London. The skiddy hard length and natural movement away from the right-hander that earned him an England look still travel well in subcontinent conditions, and RCB will hope he gives them a serviceable seam option in the closing rounds. Whether he actually gets a game with the franchise locked into a top-two race is another question.
CSK plug the Khaleel gap with Kuldip Yadav
The Bengaluru announcement came in tandem with a quieter one. Chennai Super Kings have signed left-arm medium pacer Kuldip Yadav at 30 lakh to cover for Khaleel Ahmed, ruled out for the season with the right quadriceps injury he picked up against Kolkata Knight Riders in mid-April. Khaleel leaves the season with two wickets across five matches, and CSK had hoped he would be back in time for the playoff push that has gathered pace through their four-in-five run.
Kuldip, 29, last played in the league for Rajasthan Royals in 2023 and brings only a couple of IPL appearances on his CV. He is more squad-depth signing than impact buy, but CSK's seam stocks have thinned to the point where the franchise needs warm bodies as much as anything. Jamie Overton flew back to England this week with a thigh injury that ends his season, and Chennai have already turned to a second overseas replacement in 25-year-old all-rounder Dian Forrester.
Timing that says everything
That both signings land on the same day, with the playoffs eleven days out, says plenty about where IPL rosters sit by mid-May. Replacements at this stage are rarely game-breakers. They are insurance against squads thinning past what the auction calculus allowed for, and franchises take what is available rather than what is ideal. For RCB, tied with Gujarat Titans on 16 points and separated only by net run rate, Gleeson is a third-choice quick who might never get a game. For CSK, fifth on 12 points and still alive in the playoff race, Kuldip is unlikely to feature unless something else goes wrong.
Both signings, in short, are about being ready for the worst rather than betting on the best.
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