Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have been dealt another blow ahead of the IPL 2026 tournament, as their Sri Lankan pacer Nuwan Thushara has reportedly been denied the no-objection certificate (NOC) by the Sri Lankan Board to join the squad.

RCB has already lost the services of Yash Dayal, and question marks still remain about how many matches Josh Hazlewood will play in IPL 2026. And now Nuwan Thushara has reportedly failed a fitness test necessary to get the NOC from SLC to play in IPL 2026.

SLC CEO Ashley de Silva revealed to ESPNcricinfo on Friday that Thushara had failed SLC's fitness test, scoring 17 out of 29 points across five distinct parameters.

Thushara will therefore be unavailable for at least RCB's first game of the IPL 2026 season, against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Bengaluru on Saturday, as well as potentially missing RCB's second game, which is against Chennai Super Kings in Bengaluru on April 5.

If Thushara fails the fitness test again, SLC might deny him playing any representative cricket for the foreseeable future. Thushara can retake the fitness test, but only after a gap of four to five days.

Matheesha Pathirana and Wanindu Hasaranga, two other Sri Lankan cricket players, are also recovering from injuries and are yet to take the fitness tests required to obtain the NOCs to compete in the IPL.

Hasaranga is part of the LSG squad, who bought him for INR 2 crores in the IPL 2026 auction, while KKR splurged INR 18 crores on Pathirana in the auction. Pathirana, who was ruled out of the 2026 T20 World Cup after playing three games because of a calf strain, is currently undergoing rehabilitation.

KKR coach Abhishek Nayar has already confirmed that Pathirana will miss the first few matches of IPL 2026 and might link up with the squad in the middle of April.

Hasaranga was also ruled out of the T20 World Cup with a hamstring injury.

(ESPNCricinfo report)