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From coaching staff to players, RCB bound a winning franchise with IPL 2026 triumph

From coaching staff to players, RCB bound a winning franchise with IPL 2026 triumph originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

RCB's IPL 2026 triumph heralds a new era for the franchise, who look set to dominate for years to come, according to Cricket News columnist Jamie Alter.

After Chennai Super Kings in 2011 and Mumbai Indians in 2020, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have become only the third team in IPL history to successfully defend their crown.

It is an achievement that deserves recognition not merely because of the silverware, but because of the manner in which it was accomplished.

Before the 2026 season started, I tipped RCB to make the final again. The reasons were fairly straightforward. First, on paper, they looked a very fine team. Much of the core group that had delivered the franchise's historic maiden title in 2025 was retained. Second, and perhaps even more importantly, there was continuity in the coaching and support structure.

Before discussing the on-field performers, it is worth acknowledging the coaching staff. Reaching successive IPL finals is difficult enough in a tournament designed to create competitive balance. Defending the title with largely the same group of players and support staff is even harder. Yet RCB managed exactly that.

Under Andy Flower, with Dinesh Karthik serving as a valuable repository of expertise, the franchise appears to operate with a clearly defined process. In franchise cricket, role clarity is often the difference between potential and performance. At RCB, that clarity seems to be a priority. Credit rightly goes to the players for delivering on the field, but the coaches and backroom staff deserve equal praise for fostering a professional culture and a work ethic that has translated into sustained success.

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On the field, whether at home or away, RCB had the right performers. More importantly, they had the right mix of experience and emerging talent.

BCCI/Creimas

Rajat Patidar led admirably throughout the season, but it was his batting that truly elevated his campaign. Previously labelled a batter who thrived primarily against spin, Patidar clearly worked on his game against pace, and the results were devastating. He amassed 501 runs at an average of 41.75 and a strike-rate of 192.69.

His unbeaten 93 off just 33 balls in Qualifier 1 against Gujarat Titans will go down as one of the great IPL playoff innings. It was a knock that combined power, composure and leadership. Performances of that quality inevitably reignite conversations around national selection, and the BCCI selectors may soon have to make some difficult decisions if Patidar is to find a place in India’s next T20I squad.

One of the major differences between RCB and several other teams this season was the distribution of runs. Gujarat, for instance, relied heavily on the prolific trio of Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler. RCB, by contrast, spread the responsibility throughout the batting order.

Virat Kohli once again topped the charts for his side, scoring 675 runs at an improved strike-rate of 165. In the final, as wickets fell around him, he responded with the fastest IPL fifty of his career.

Patidar added 501 runs and hit a team-high 42 sixes. Devdutt Padikkal contributed 464 runs at a strike-rate of 168, while Tim David hammered 305 runs at 189. Krunal Pandya chipped in with 226 valuable runs lower down the order, and Venkatesh Iyer scored 209 runs from just six innings at a strike-rate of 186.

The numbers tell a compelling story. RCB crossed the 200-run mark nine times during the season and successfully chased 200-plus targets on two occasions. Yet only one RCB batter featured in the tournament’s top 10 run-scorers. That underlines the depth of their batting and the collective impact of the line-up rather than an overreliance on one or two individuals.

Ultimately, however, bowlers win trophies. In this regard, RCB possessed one of the most effective attacks in the competition.

In a season widely regarded as extremely difficult for bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was outstanding. His 28 wickets at 17.89, combined with an economy rate of 7.95, placed him second on the wicket-takers’ list. For a 36-year-old seamer in a batting-dominated era, those are remarkable numbers.

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Alongside him was Josh Hazlewood, a bowler whose reputation in major finals continues to grow. Though not always at his absolute best, Hazlewood still delivered key breakthroughs and finished with 15 wickets.

Rasikh Salaam Dar, meanwhile, finally began to fulfil his potential. The 26-year-old claimed 19 wickets at 21, including three in the final. Pandya once again provided control and versatility with 14 wickets, while Suyash Sharma made valuable contributions whenever called upon.

When a team combines sustained excellence, clearly defined roles and an uncompromising desire to win, success tends to follow. That is exactly what happened with RCB in 2026. They did not simply defend a title; they demonstrated that their 2025 triumph was no one-off.

A new template has been established in Bengaluru, and it will be fascinating to see where it takes the franchise over the next few seasons.

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