CHENNAI: The first time was so nice, Royal Challengers Bengaluru had to do it twice, becoming only the third team in Indian Premier League history to retain its title, and it did it in the most RCB of fashions—by playing boldly.
The big brains of this RCB think-tank, Andy Flower played a vital role in transforming the franchise into a dynasty, purely on the back of using data, and picking the right players. Flower always had a good CV but for RCB, he was more than that, he was a no-nonsense cricketing brain, who strengthened the outfit by picking champion bowlers. His bold decisions even included elevating Rajat Patidar as a captain, a move that has now yielded it two titles.
If Flower gets a fair bit of limelight, Mo Bobat deserves a lot more than he gets. Under Bobat, RCB has made evidence-based decisions, more than just relying on data. The inclusion of Freddie Wilde has made it much stronger, as they picked players for roles best-suited, vindicated with the likes of Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Devdutt Padikkal. Bobat is also the mastermind behind appointing Dinesh Karthik as the batting coach.
RCB plays a brand of cricket very rarely seen in IPL history, and the main reason behind it: Dinesh Karthik. Since Karthik has come onboard, he’s been at the centre of a lot of decision-making, making a significant change to the franchise’s batting approach. Patidar, Jitesh, Krunal, Iyer and a host of players have attributed their change in approach to the former wicketkeeper. Karthik was also quite influential in RCB’s auction strategy, including signing the likes of Krunal at that price point, alongside Malolan Rangarajan, former Tamil Nadu all-rounder.
After Delhi Capitals released him, RCB did not wait longer before jumping on board for Rasikh Dar. While he was rarely used in 2025, his chance came in 2026, and the pacer from Jammu and Kashmir showed his complete range. Be it new ball wickets, or bowling slower balls and yorkers at the death, Dar did it all, filling Yash Dayal’s void effortlessly. Kohli might have taken the honours home in the final but it was Dar who silenced the Titans in Ahmedabad.
KKR released its star player, Venkatesh Iyer, and RCB swooped in to pick the Madhya Pradesh all-rounder in the blink of an eye. With Padikkal on the side, Iyer rarely got his due in the first half of the season before coming off his own in the later half, with 209 impactful runs, striking at 186.60 at the top of the order.
Krunal Pandya’s buy quite possibly is the reason why RCB today has two titles. The all-rounder was an integral part of RCB’s success last year, and an under-rated element in this year’s win too. His left-arm everything (bouncers, yorkers and slingers) certainly gave RCB its bowling edge while his batting (226 runs @145.80) went severely unnoticed. The perfect clutch player that a franchise can ask for, at the moment.