Royal Challengers Bengaluru players found no bounds to their joy as they clinched a second successive Indian Premier League title on Sunday. All-round RCB registered a five-wicket victory over Gujarat Titans in the summit clash to defend the glory. They finished the league stage at the top spot with 18 points from 14 games at a net run rate of +0.783. After this, RCB defeated GT by 92 runs in Qualifier 1 and defeated the side again in the final to clinch their second title.
The RCB players celebrated the victory in a stunning manner. Some of them even poured a chiller ice box over head coach Andy Flower, the man behind the side’s dominating run in the past two seasons of the IPL.
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@RCBTweets are your #TATAIPL 2026 Champions #Final | #TheFinalLeap | #RCBvGT pic.twitter.com/vAqXacHPju
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RCB all-rounder Krunal Pandya said it was a special moment to win the title again.
“There’s no doubt about it, everything is special. It’s like having kids, winning IPL titles is also hard to achieve, so everything feels special to me.
“A lot of credit goes to the support staff: Mo Bobat, Andy Flower, DK (Dinesh Karthik), Malolan (Rangarajan). Half of the win is in the auction and we did a good job, I’m glad we went back-to-back for the trophies. 18 years of waiting, (winning) back-to-back trophies, it’s special.
“Also to Virat Kohli, waited 18 years and now winning two titles on the back…”
For batter Devdutt Padikkal, having Kohli in the middle calmed his nerves in the match.
“When wickets fell, Venky asked me if I was nervous, but you don’t need to be when he’s batting in the middle (on Virat Kohli), has been superb and his hunger for runs has been unbelievable.
“It’s been incredible; batting with this entire group has been special. Winning trophies has been something we’ve craved for and I am happy that I finished an injury free season.
“When you are surrounded by so much quality, you improve a bit as well. The bowlers have been unbelievable; they planned meticulously. I have been with the team plans for a few days and the way they’ve gone after the plans has been incredible.”
Jitesh Sharma said RCB did not think much about the title but only went through the process.
“Like Mo said before, we’re not defending, we’re attacking and chasing something. The mindset was not to defend the title. Credit to the management, the way they nourished us, the way they backed me when I wasn’t performing. This gives you plenty of assurance; you know they will back you and you want to give back something.
“We were strong, but we focused on one game at a time, we didn’t think about the opponents, we just kept up with the process. Hopefully, we will get a third title.”
(With PTI Inputs)
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