Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will face former winners Gujarat Titans in the final of the 2026 IPL at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
RCB secured their place in the title clash by defeating GT in Qualifier 1, reaching Ahmedabad before the home side. Gujarat, meanwhile, took the longer route to the final, making full use of their top-2 league finish with a redemption victory over Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2, setting up a rematch with RCB, this time with the IPL trophy on the line.
RCB are aiming to join an exclusive group of teams to have successfully defended the IPL crown, a feat previously achieved only by Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. To do so, they must overcome a resurgent GT, who will enjoy home advantage in the final.
Shubman Gill
The GT skipper has led his side from the front and would look to exact revenge on RCB, who forced them to take the round-about route to the championship battle. Gill’s magnificent ton in the second qualifier facilitated their passage into the final and the captain would look to come up with one final push to take his side over the line.
Sai Sudharsan
The southpaw has remained a stalwart of t20 opening despite explosive batters coming through the ranks, and serves as an exponent of traditional cricket with his authentic shot play and has reaped the rewards for it. One thing he’d look to rectify, however, would be to sort out the non-sticky glove situation.
Kagiso Rabada
The Protea pacer has led the GT bowling attack and has been lethal especially at home conditions. With the venue pushing in their favour, the Titans would look to get their hands on the trophy yet again, banking on their exceptional bowling unit led by the South African stalwart.
Virat Kohli
The legendary batter has been at the forefront of RCB’s recent dominance and would look to rise up to the occasion, as he does ever so often, in the summit clash to help the Karnataka-based side retain the crown.
Rajat Patidar
The skipper has been a true trump card for the side as evidenced by his incredible 97-run knock against GT in the qualifier one during crunch situations to take the game away from the Titans. He’d look to replicate his showing in the final and get another trophy to the cabinet.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
The veteran has demonstrated that the art of classic seam bowling would never go out of fashion as he has found a way to fuse old-school discipline with modern variations to help the holders reach the final frontier in their title defence.
Source: News18