The old RCB often relied on individual brilliance. There were seasons powered by Gayle’s destruction, campaigns rescued by de Villiers and years when Kohli shouldered almost the entire batting responsibility. Kohli still led from the front in 2026, finishing as the franchise’s leading run-scorer once again, but this time he had support. Plenty of it.
The march towards a second successive title fittingly ended at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the venue where RCB had broken their curse a year earlier.
Winning a title is difficult; defending one is an altogether different challenge. But RCB were up for it. They finished atop the points table with nine wins in 14 league matches, brushed aside Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 and then repeated the feat in the final against the same opponents.
Calm Head, Aggressive Team
At the centre of that transformation stood Patidar.
And when the biggest stage arrived, Kohli once again found a way to leave his mark. The man who had spent nearly two decades carrying the hopes of the franchise produced his fastest IPL fifty in the final (75*), setting up the chase that sealed RCB’s second consecutive title.
Different Heroes, Same Result
As Josh Hazlewood became the perfect foil to Bhuvneshwar Kumar with the ball, Devdutt Padikkal emerged as the ideal partner for Kohli and Patidar in the batting unit.
Padikkal returned to Bengaluru last season after enduring difficult spells elsewhere, but IPL 2026 was his true renaissance. He finished with 464 runs at a strike rate of 168.72 and consistently supplied the aggression.
His 61 off 26 balls against SRH turned a daunting chase of 202 into a comfortable pursuit. His fifty against CSK laid the platform for RCB’s mammoth total of 250. Against GT, he scored a crucial 55 off 27 deliveries.
The batting depth did not end there.
Tim David’s role was clear from the start: finish games. His 305 runs came at a strike rate of 189.44. The defining performance arrived against CSK, when he blasted an unbeaten 70 off just 25 deliveries. Throughout the season, David delivered impactful cameos that repeatedly tilted matches in RCB’s favour.
His spell against DC, where he and Hazlewood reduced the opposition to 8 for 6, was among the most devastating new-ball performances of the season. Against MI, he delivered another match-winning spell. Time and again, Bhuvneshwar gave RCB early control, allowing the rest of the attack to operate from positions of strength. At 36, he looked every bit the leader of a championship bowling unit.
Hazlewood’s numbers were modest by his lofty standards — 15 wickets from 13 matches — but his influence was immense. The Australian relentlessly hit hard lengths, created pressure and repeatedly forced batters into mistakes.
Then there was Rasikh Salam.
The young fast bowler emerged as one of the discoveries of the season, collecting 19 wickets in just 12 matches. Trusted in difficult phases of the innings, Rasikh repaid that faith with breakthroughs at crucial moments and completed a pace attack that combined experience with youthful energy – his three-wicket haul in the final a testament to that.
Every major win featured a different hero. Sometimes it was Kohli. Sometimes Patidar. Sometimes Padikkal. Sometimes David. Sometimes Krunal. Sometimes Bhuvneshwar. Sometimes it was the bowlers operating as a collective unit. That was the defining characteristic of this championship side.
The first IPL trophy ended one of the league’s longest waits. The second confirmed something even more important. Royal Challengers Bengaluru are no longer a franchise chasing history. They may well be on their way to creating one.