Newsinc24 Team 
Royal Challengers Bengaluru have officially gatecrashed the most exclusive club in Indian cricket. Chasing a target of 156, Virat Kohli remained unbeaten from start to finish, guiding RCB to their second successive IPL title. He battled through injury to slam the fastest half-century of his IPL career. Earlier, RCB put in an excellent bowling performance to restrict GT to 155/8 in 20 overs. RCB captain Rajat Patidar won the toss and opted to bowl, and the move paid off, as GT skipper Shubman Gill and opening partner Sai Sudharsan departed in the powerplay. Washington Sundar took advantage of a lifeline and slammed a half-century. Rasikh Salam Dar took three wickets, while Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up two each.
Kohli and Tim David (24 off 17 balls) added 41 runs for the fifth wicket to dash whatever little hopes GT may have had after reducing RCB to 91/4 at one point. Kohli hit Arshad Khan for a six to finish off the game with 12 balls to go and five wickets in hand.
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 31, 2026
Soaking in @RCBTweets special night in & #TATAIPL | #Final | #TheFinalLeap | #RCBvGT pic.twitter.com/lmswo5YTC0
With their triumph, RCB became only the third team to win back-to-back titles after Chennai Super Kings (2010 and 2011) and Mumbai Indians (2019 and 2020). Rajat Patidar also became the third captain after MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma to win back-to-back titles.
Chief minister-designate D K Shivakumar and outgoing chief minister Siddaramaiah congratulated Royal Challengers Bengaluru on its second consecutive Indian Premier League (IPL) title as the team trumped Gujarat in the final match on Sunday night.
Shivakumar also lashed out at IPL organisers for shifting the venue for the final to Gujarat, saying it was an injustice to Karnataka, and alleged the move was politically motivated. "The IPL final match should have happened in Bengaluru. Injustice has been done to us. Due to politics, they held it at a different venue. I won't speak much on it," he told reporters.
