Wait no more, and this time, it wasn’t even close. Royal Challengers Bengaluru have pulled it off again. In a full house at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on May 31, 2026, RCB crushed Gujarat Titans by five wickets to win their second IPL title in succession and forever inscribed into one of the greatest chapters of cricket history.
Only a year on from breaking an 18-year title drought with their first IPL championship against Punjab Kings, RCB have now established themselves amongst the pantheon of teams at the top end of the IPL tree, where only Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings lay for back-to-back titles. It is not a dream anymore that this dynasty is still taking place — it has been put on record.
A Final for the Ages
Gujarat Titans batted first and quickly lost both openers with captain Shubman Gill (10) falling to Josh Hazlewood and Sai Sudharsan out for 7 by Bhuvneshwar Kumar during the powerplay. GT’s plans were jangled early on, and while Nishant Sindhu and Jos Buttler attempted to steady the ship for a small period of time before they both fell away leaving GT crawling at the midway breather, it was Washington Sundar who saved the innings with a balanced 50 not out off 37 balls — but it wasn’t good enough to set a competitive score.
At the end of their 20 overs, Gujarat Titans were at 155/8 — a score that was never going to be enough against a batting line-up such as RCB’s if the openers got them off to a flier.
They did exactly that.
Kohli Rewrites His Own Record
RCB openers Virat Kohli and Venkatesh Iyer provided the defending champions a blistering start attacking Proteas pacer Kagiso Rabada – who won the Purple Cap – with 37 in his first two overs. It was clear from the first ball what he intended to do.
Iyer finally fell in the fifth over to Mohammed Siraj after hammering a 16-ball 32, before RCB suffered a double blow as Rabada dismissed Devdutt Padikkal off the very next ball leaving RCB at 70/2 at the end of powerplay. It wasn’t till the middle of innings that there was a wobble, Rashid Khan gave GT a sniff, dismissing Rajat Patidar and Krunal Pandya in 4 balls to leave RCB at 91/4 — but this is where Kohli once again lived up to his legend.
On the very next ball, Kohli reached his fifty in just 25 balls, the fastest of his IPL career and maintained an astonishing record: RCB have not lost a game since 2025 when he scores a fifty. GT, who were essentially partisan for Kohli, managed a choke as he played one of the best last-match chases in history.
Kohli shared a quick 41-run partnership with Tim David, which took RCB to the brink of yet another title win before Ashad Khan sent back David. But by then it was too late. Kohli scored an unbeaten 75 off 42 balls to make sure the defending champions never lost control of their pursuit and ultimately made short work of the chase, which they completed in only 18 overs.
The Bowling Laid the Foundation
It was RCB’s bowlers that had done the hard yards before Kohli turned up to steal the show. Rasikh Salam Dar’s three-for and early blows in the powerplay from Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar kept GT behind throughout their innings to finish at a total that was way below par on a good batting wicket.
A Legacy Cemented
But this triumph is about more than just winning another piece of silverware. RCB were a cricketing nearly-men for years: star-studded franchise with no silverware to show. This 2025 win marked the end of an 18-year wait and turned into reality one of the longest-running slogans among the club’s enduring fan base: “Ee Sala Cup Namde”, or, “This time, the cup is ours”. The 2026 title shows that there was no fluke.
Led by Rajat Patidar and brought to life by Virat Kohli’s brilliance, RCB have transformed from IPL romantics into its best ever team. The empire of scarlet and gold has found its dynasty — with the rest of the league left to try and find a way to prevent them from three.
Ee Sala? Every Sala.