RCB IPL 2026 Champions 🏆 Back-to-Back! Full Winning Story, Final Score vs GT & Kohli's Record

01 Quick Answer: Did RCB Win IPL 2026?

Yes — Royal Challengers Bengaluru won IPL 2026, sealing back-to-back titles. In the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on 31 May 2026, RCB restricted Gujarat Titans to 155/8, then chased down the 156 target to win by 5 wickets with 7 balls to spare. Captain Rajat Patidar lifted the trophy for the second year running, and Virat Kohli finished the job himself with an unbeaten 62, taking home Player of the Match.

02 Final Scorecard — RCB vs GT

RCB captain Rajat Patidar won the toss and chose to bowl first. Here is the headline scoreline of the IPL 2026 final.

GT Innings — Key Contributors

RCB Bowling — Defending Effort

RCB Chase — Top Bats

GT bowling: Rashid Khan 2/22, Mohammed Siraj 1/36, Kagiso Rabada 1/44, Arshad Khan 1/17.

03 GT Innings: How RCB Restricted Them to 155/8

The final was won in the first innings. RCB's pace attack ripped through Gujarat's top order inside the powerplay — Shubman Gill fell for 10, top-edging a pull to Rajat Patidar off Josh Hazlewood, and Sai Sudharsan was cleaned up by a sharp Bhuvneshwar Kumar short ball. At 55/3, GT were in deep trouble.

Washington Sundar steadied the innings with a fighting 50 off 37 balls after surviving a dropped catch, but RCB kept striking. Krunal Pandya bowled a 114 kph yorker to trap Jos Buttler, and Rasikh Salam Dar finished with three wickets to choke the death overs. Jason Holder never got the platform to launch, and GT limped to 155/8 — a total that always felt 20 short on a true Ahmedabad surface.

Two stars on the badge. The dynasty begins.

04 RCB Chase: Kohli's Masterclass

Chasing 156, RCB came out swinging. Virat Kohli and Venkatesh Iyer raced to fifty in just 3.3 overs — the fastest any team has reached 50 in an IPL final, beating CSK's 2023 record. Kohli launched Kagiso Rabada for 4, 4, 6, 4 in a single over; Venkatesh played through pain for a 16-ball 32.

Then came the wobble. Rashid Khan struck twice in five balls — removing Patidar and Krunal — to drag GT back into it, and a controversial Tim David dismissal made it 132/5. But Kohli, despite a hamstring scare that needed strapping and treatment, refused to leave. A late not-out review on a low Gill catch went his way, and Jitesh Sharma's boundaries eased the nerves. RCB got home with 7 balls to spare.

05 Kohli's Fastest IPL Final Fifty

The Player of the Match award went to one man only: Virat Kohli, 62 not out off 35 balls. His fifty came off just 25 balls — his fastest in any IPL match — and arrived on the biggest occasion of all. Carrying a strapped hamstring, he stood tall, hit the winning runs, and finished a final unbeaten for the franchise he never left.

If 2025 was about ending an 18-year wait, 2026 was about proving it was no fluke. Two finals, two titles, and Kohli at the heart of both. Loyalty, once again, rewarded.

06 Back-to-Back: What It Means

RCB now have two IPL titles — 2025 and 2026 — won consecutively. Going back-to-back is the rarest feat in the IPL; only a handful of franchises have ever managed it. From the team that finished runners-up three times (2009, 2011, 2016) and was a punchline for "Ee Sala Cup Namde," RCB have transformed into the competition's defining force.

• 2025: Maiden title — beat Punjab Kings by 6 runs.
• 2026: Defended it — beat Gujarat Titans by 5 wickets.
• Result: A genuine RCB dynasty, built under captain Rajat Patidar and coach Andy Flower.

07 RCB's Road to the Final

RCB's 2026 campaign was a defence built on dominance. They finished top of the table on net run-rate (9 wins from 14) and then dismantled Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1.

• League stage: 9 wins, 18 points, table-toppers — including a 23-run win over PBKS in Dharamsala and a 5-wicket chase against GT in Bengaluru.
• Qualifier 1: RCB beat GT by a massive 92 runs (RCB 254/5, GT 162) in Dharamsala — Rajat Patidar leading the charge — to book a direct final spot.
• Final: Beat GT again, by 5 wickets, to complete the back-to-back.

08 RCB IPL 2026 Winning Squad

Captain: Rajat Patidar · Head Coach: Andy Flower.

09 The Celebration & Reactions

The moment the winning run was struck, the Narendra Modi Stadium — a red ocean again — exploded. RCB players sprinted onto the field, Kohli pumped his fist with that familiar roar, and Rajat Patidar embraced his side for the second June in a row. Defending the title in front of GT's home crowd made it even sweeter.

Across India and online, "Ee Sala Cup Namde" — once a 17-year-long hopeful meme — became a victory chant for the second straight year, now joined by "Encore" and "Back-to-Back." #PlayBold trended worldwide as fans hailed RCB's rise from heartbreak to dynasty.

10 Best RCB Back-to-Back Captions for Instagram

Posting your RCB celebration reel or status? Grab one of these — and find dozens more in our IPL caption packs linked below.

• Ee Sala Cup, phir se Namde. ✅ Back-to-back, baby. 🏆🏆🔴
• Champions don't take breaks. They take encores. 👑
• King Kohli finished it. Again. Fastest fifty, biggest stage. 🔥
• From "no trophy in 18 years" to "two in a row." Mindset shift. #PlayBold
• 155 was never enough against a dynasty. RCB, Champions of 2026. 🏆

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