It’s amazing what one victory does. It spurs you on to get another, and then another. It was as though Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were destined to go without an Indian Premier League (IPL) title. However, all that has changed in the last two seasons, with them winning back-to-back titles – only the third team to do so.
Virat Kohli tried for years to break the duck, first as a young player, then as the leader of the pack. But everytime, he fell short. Enter Rajat Patidar as captain. He not just stepped up with the bat, but also worked hard in tandem with Andy Flower to get the best of every member of the side.
No more looking back
Gone are the days when RCB depended on just 2-3 players. Their bowling over the years, too has been among the worst, but all that was rectified ahead of the IPL 2025 auction and now, they stand in front of us as two-time champions.
Be it acquiring Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Krunal Pandya, Phil Salt, Venkatesh Iyer or Josh Hazlewood, every player played his role to perfection. And when that happens, you are more often than not in a position to win the championship.
“I told some of the boys that it doesn’t feel like there’s the same pressure this time as there was last year. The boys’ composure was evident tonight,” Kohli, who smashed an unbeaten half-century in the final, said.
Even for someone with the experience of Kohli, the 2025 win was a huge relief. It was a monkey off the back for someone of his stature, who had seen it all and won it all.
The wheels for the title defence was set in motion not at the start of this season, but at the end of the previous one. For someone like RCB, they could have just taken it easy this season after their triumph last year, but no. Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat, set the ball rolling with an inspiring speech at the end of last season.
“Get addicted to the feeling tonight. That feeling drives the hunger for addiction to winning and winning that trophy,” he had said in the dressing room last season.
Those words were not empty as RCB bought a few more players to strengthen their depth. There was no need to panic buy or get someone on board with an inflated price tag. They roped in Venkatesh Iyer and Jacob Duffy, who further added to RCB’s talented roster and played huge roles in helping their side get over the line this season.
With Phil Salt missing a huge chunk of the season, Iyer and Jacob Bethell filled his shoes with utmost ease. So much so, RCB did not bring him in, even when he was fit and available. Rasikh Salam too delivered this time around with 19 wickets – the most by an uncapped Indian bowler this season – and along with Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar, he formed a deadly troika.
Three-peat on?
The batting did not lack firepower either. While Kohli led the way, he found support in Patidar, Devdutt Padikkal and at times even Tim David and Krunal Pandya, who scored vital runs down the order to further bolster RCB.
Overall, it was a team effort that helped RCB clinch back-to-back titles.
With two titles under their belt, it would not be far-fetched to expect them to make a hat-trick. No team has ever done that. After waiting, what felt like a lifetime for their first title, RCB could very well go on to shatter many records in the years to come. It’s like they are making up for lost time, and their fans are not complaining one bit.
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