RCB taste success once again – Of Kohli’s masterclass, Bhuvneshwar’s …

Virat Kohli hitting the winning runs against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, and his celebrations that sent the internet into a tizzy. The rest of his teammates running towards Kohli to congratulate the master batsman. The delirium and cacophony among thousands of RCB fans in the stands. Those evocative memories don’t just stop there. Last year, Kohli was in tears after RCB broke the jinx and won their maiden IPL trophy. It was an emotional moment for Kohli after years of heartbreak in the IPL landscape.

The above-mentioned paragraph is a recollection of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s back-to-back IPL trophy-winning efforts in the grand theatre of Ahmedabad. However, this wasn’t supposed to happen. Ever since Ashley Noffke was smashed around for 23 runs in a single over, the RCB franchise has mostly been a part of memes and ridicule. Season after season, RCB’s players and their fans had nothing but haunting memories to take back home. In between, they did reach three finals, but even then they were at the receiving end of gut-wrenching losses.

So, how did RCB transform themselves into a trophy-winning machine? For starters, a lot of credit has to go to the RCB management, comprising Andy Flower, Mo Bobat, Omkar Salvi, Dinesh Karthik and Co., for helping them develop a winning culture. They also picked the right squad at the auction table and stuck to their tried-and-tested method. fishroad-app.com

Of course, Kohli, the colossus of RCB, still being able to chisel out a successful path has been one of the cornerstones of their twin titles. In the final, in tricky conditions for batting, he negated the threat of extra bounce. When RCB lost wickets, his calm countenance paved the way for his side’s victory. By then, the track had also slowed down a bit. In a nutshell, the edifice of RCB was there when it mattered the most.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the other lynchpin of RCB’s splendid run over the last two years. The veteran pacer’s career seemed to be at a crossroads a couple of years ago. Fast forward to IPL 2026, and he came across as a complete package with the ball in hand. Leaving aside his main weapons, Bhuvneshwar found a way to bend his back and extract awkward bounce from the Ahmedabad wicket. At the age of 38, snapping your back can’t be easy. He also transformed himself into an elite wobble-seam bowler. Here is a cricketer who never stops learning.

Lest we forget Krunal Pandya and his ability to soak up pressure at crucial junctures. At this rate, the RCB fans might end up building a statue for him somewhere near the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Rajat Patidar’s contribution can’t be restricted to a couple of words either. He didn’t just score his runs against spin and pace at the rate of knots, but also seemed to have a calm head on his shoulders as skipper.

Meanwhile, Rasikh Salam, the pace bowler, has come on by leaps and bounds. From Kohli to Patidar and Bhuvneshwar, and right down to Josh Hazlewood, the injured Phil Salt, Venkatesh Iyer and Jacob Duffy, almost every cricketer put his hand up at key moments of the tournament.

Last but not least, we have to mention the passionate RCB fans. When RCB pipped GT, the fans in Bengaluru were seen screaming, jumping around, taking sticks and smashing tables, doing somersaults in the air, carrying RCB flags and chanting “Ee Sala Cup Namde”. The fans’ celebrations added a rainbow of colours to the triumph. Despite a massive police presence, the RCB fans tried to show their never-ending loyalty towards the club.

Talking about loyalty, it has almost been a year since several RCB fans lost their lives in a ghastly stampede incident near the main gate of the Chinnaswamy Stadium during the franchise’s victory celebrations. As Rajat Patidar succinctly noted in the post-match presser: “Obviously you feel bad, the loss (of lives) of the fans after winning the game. Not the fans, they were family members. I always want this trophy to be dedicated to them. I don’t have words to express the feeling.”

The fans who show their love and affection towards the franchise without any expectation of getting something in return are truly major stakeholders in RCB’s title-winning season.

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In a shocking incident after the IPL 2026 final between the Gujarat Titans (GT) and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the team bus of the Shubman Gill-led side caught fire on the way to their team hotel after the match at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Sunday, May 31. A major accident was avoided as all the players and support staff seated in the bus, including the driver, were safely evacuated.

The fire, although not major, broke out after a short circuit in the bus due to an electrical fault in the main unit. Smoke erupted in the bus and also entered the inside area where all the players were seated. However, they remained safe and had to wait on the road for roughly an hour before a rescue bus arrived and took them to the team hotel.

Prompt action by the logistics team and security personnel as well as the Ahmedabad police personnel available in the route from Motera to the team hotel ensured that there were no major threats after the short circuit in the bus. All the GT players reached their destination shortly thereafter from the scary situation after they had already lost their second-ever IPL final.

Speaking more of the match, RCB managed to chase down the relatively subpar target set by GT with five wickets to spare and two overs remaining. Virat Kohli (75* off 42) was charismatic on the big night, also hitting the winning six to seal the deal for the Rajat Patidar-led side.

GT had faced some travel disruptions before the final as well. After they defeated the Rajasthan Royals in the Qualifier 2 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Stadium, their flight to Ahmedabad for the summit clash was delayed owing to inclement weather conditions in New Chandigarh. They reached Ahmedabad less than twenty-four hours before the final match, which may have caused travel fatigue.

"I don't want to take away from the fact that RCB have won by simply stating that we have had this number of games in these short days and we're fatigued, and that's not really what our team is about," GT's director of cricket Vikram Solanki said at the post-match press conference.

Nonetheless, RCB won their second-consecutive IPL title. Patidar joined the legendary list of captains MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma to have won an IPL championship for two years straight. RCB have arguably set their legacy for being one of the best sides in the league's history, and now have two IPL trophies as well to display their dominance in the tournament over the years.

Shamik Chakrabarty, Ahmedabad

On the podium, Rajat Patidar, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain, thanked the fans in Ahmedabad and said, “Ee Sala Cup Namde” after achieving back-to-back IPL double. At the post-match press conference, he remembered the dead.

Last year, RCB’s victory celebration had turned tragic, as 11 people died in a stampede near Chinnaswamy Stadium. The franchise had broken their 17-year IPL title drought but the joy was short-lived. The incidents in the aftermath was a dark chapter in RCB’s journey. The Karnataka government blamed the franchise for the mishap.

Nothing can make up for the loss of human lives and when asked to reflect on the tragedy, Patidar was sombre. “Obviously you feel bad, the loss (of lives) of the fans after winning the game,” said the skipper. “Not the fans, they were family members. I always want this trophy to dedicate them. I don’t have words to express the feeling.”

The whole incident had put a question mark on RCB playing their home fixtures at Chinnaswamy this term. After Venkatesh Prasad became the Karnataka State Cricket Association president, he walked the extra mile, convinced the state government, and RCB eventually played some of their home matches, including the tournament opener, in Bangalore this year.

They still lost out on hosting the IPL final at home. The BCCI broke away from the convention and took the final to Ahmedabad. In fact, the cricket board had little option, as it had to consider the interests of the common fans. In addition to the complimentary passes for MLAs and MLCs, additional passes, complimentary or at concessional rates, were also demanded. This prompted the BCCI to shift the final on to Ahmedabad. The quota for complimentary tickets at a venue is 15 per cent of the total capacity, and the demand exceeded that limit. Chinnaswamy Stadium has a capacity of 35,000.

“Given this convention only, we ensured that the opening game happened in Bangalore, despite the challenges they faced with the state government pertaining to last year’s stampede episode,” IPL chairman Arun Dhumal told RevSportz in an interview earlier this month. “There is a new legislation that has come up in Karnataka, as you all know, under which I think three tickets are to be given to every legislator. And they had a few more commitments pertaining to their members and other dignitaries, wherein they had committed some tickets at concessional rates and stuff like that. Given that, we would have been in a tricky situation, as very few tickets would have been available to the fans.”

This time, the Bangalore police has barred street revelry after RCB’s title triumph. ‘Celebrate indoors’ is the message.

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A year ago, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) finally climbed their Everest.

After 18 years of heartbreak, near-misses and jokes at their expense, they lifted their maiden IPL trophy. But what should have been the happiest moment in the franchise’s history turned into a tragedy that left Bengaluru mourning. A victory parade led to a stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium last year.

On Sunday night in Ahmedabad, as RCB became only the third team after Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians to successfully defend an IPL title, captain Rajat Patidar made sure those 11 supporters were not forgotten. “We dedicate this trophy to our fans, actually not fans, family members, who passed away in the tragedy last year,” Patidar said after RCB defeated Gujarat Titans by five wickets in the IPL 2026 final.

RCB hasn’t forgotten

It was a powerful statement from the RCB captain, who told the world that RCB hasn’t forgotten. Instead of overdoing celebration, Patidar chose to remember the supporters whose lives were lost in the stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4, 2025, a day after RCB ended their 18-year title drought.

Thousands had gathered for a felicitation ceremony as the team returned home with the trophy. The crowd swelled beyond capacity, entry points became overwhelmed and a crush developed outside the venue. Eleven people lost their lives while several others were injured, leaving a permanent scar on what should have been the greatest day in the franchise’s history.

Throughout IPL 2026, RCB made a conscious effort to honour those victims. Players wore black armbands in their opening match, observed a minute’s silence and trained in jerseys carrying the number 11. The franchise also kept 11 seats vacant at the Chinnaswamy Stadium throughout the season as a mark of respect. Now, one year later, they have another trophy to dedicate to them.

To whomsoever it may concern 2.0 pic.twitter.com/E0eMTnjQ5g

— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) May 31, 2026

Birthday boy Patidar joins Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni in elite club

The 33-year-old became just the third captain in IPL history after Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni to win back-to-back championships. Remarkably, he has done it in his first two seasons as captain. It was extra special for Patidar, who enjoys his birthday today (June 1).

“It feels really good. It is the best gift because it is my birthday today, so it cannot be better than this,” Patidar said. For someone whose IPL journey didn’t start on a traditional note, it was another remarkable chapter.

Patidar was bought by RCB for ₹20 lakh in 2021 before being released. He returned in 2022 as an injury replacement and announced himself with an unbeaten 112 against Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator, becoming the first uncapped player to score a century in the IPL playoffs.

A serious Achilles injury then ruled him out of the entire 2023 season. He fought back in 2024, scored 395 runs and was eventually entrusted with the captaincy ahead of IPL 2025. Two seasons later, he has two trophies.

Rajat Patidar’s journey at RCB

Season	Achievement
2021	Signed by RCB for ₹20 lakh before getting released
2022	Signed as injury replacement, scored 112* in Eliminator vs LSG
2023	Missed season due to Achilles injury
2024	Scored 395 runs at SR 177.13
2025	Became captain and won maiden IPL title
2026	Led RCB to second consecutive IPL title

Birthday boy takes home his gift. pic.twitter.com/03FUxaWha2

— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) June 1, 2026

RCB eye IPL hat-trick!

If anyone expected Patidar to get carried away after becoming a back-to-back champion, they were disappointed. Moments after completing history, the RCB captain was already looking ahead.

“But I try to stay in the present. We now have to focus on how we can do three in a row,” Patidar said. “We will celebrate today, but then focus moves on again.”

That mindset says a lot. It explains why RCB have changed from a franchise once dependent on individual brilliance into the most complete team in the IPL. Patidar repeatedly credited the culture created by head coach Andy Flower and director of cricket Mo Bobat, insisting that the biggest change has been the mindset within the dressing room.

“The coaching staff deserves full credit. They treat every player equally, whether experienced or new. That is the biggest change I see.”

The results back that up.

RCB finished as champions in 2025 and 2026 despite not having the most expensive squad or the most glamorous names. Instead, they built a team around clearly defined roles, trusted experienced players such as Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Krunal Pandya, and created an environment where everyone knew their job. Patidar himself enjoyed his best IPL season with the bat, scoring 501 runs and smashing 42 sixes.

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