Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) all-rounder Krunal Pandya was in an ecstatic mood after his team successfully defended the Indian Premier League (IPL) title by beating Gujarat Titans (GT) in the final in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
In a video posted on RCB's social media handles, the Baroda all-rounder is dancing to the beat of dhols, with Virat Kohli joining him later.
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RCB won the toss in the IPL 2026 final and opted to field first. GT were off to a shaky start after they lost both their openers, Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill, in the powerplay.
The 2022 IPL champions were even in a spot of bother at 73/4 in the 13th over after Jos Buttler's dismissal, but Washington Sundar was eventually their saviour.
The Tamil Nadu all-rounder registered an unbeaten 50 from 37 balls, forging small but productive partnerships with the likes of Jason Holder and Arshad Khan to take GT to a total of 155/8 from 20 overs.
How RCB won the game and defended IPL title
However, any total below 200 was not going to be safe. And RCB proved that right.
Kohli and Venkatesh Iyer (32) stitched a 62-run partnership off just 27 balls for the first wicket, and despite a few hiccups during the middle phase of the run chase, the Rajat Patidar-led side were able to chase down the total with five wickets and two overs to spare.
Apart from Iyer, Kohli was well supported by Patidar (15), Tim David (24) and Jitesh Sharma (11*), who played crucial cameos to take RCB home.
While wickets were falling at regular intervals at the other end, Kohli stood tall with an unbeaten 74 runs from 42 balls. He got to his half-century in just 25 deliveries, and his knock overall consisted of nine fours and three sixes.
Pandya, on the other hand, finished with figures of 1/23 from four overs but was only able to score just a solitary run during RCB’s chase.
RCB, who beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the IPL 2025 final, thus became the third team to successfully defend the title.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) was the first to do so after winning two consecutive titles in 2010 and 2011, and Mumbai Indians (MI) followed suit with IPL titles in 2019 and 2020. It should be noted that no team has won the IPL three times in a row, and RCB will be hoping to do so in 2027.
After the match, RCB skipper Patidar said that his team was more confident than last year. “This year, we were pretty confident because of the way we played in this tournament, and everyone was in a good frame of mind.”
The Madhya Pradesh cricketer added at the post-match presentation ceremony that, "Slightly more confident as compared to last year, and it was good. It was good to see fans coming to every ground wherever we went. It felt like home ground for us. So overall it was great, great for RCB."
