IPL 2026 final: Defending champions RCB face in-form Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad

Rajat Patidar and Shubman Gill (Pic: BCCI)

The stage is set for the final match of IPL 2026 as the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), take on the Gujarat Titans (GT). GT and RCB have been the best two teams throughout the tournament, finishing in the top 2 of the table. It is a rematch of Qualifier 1, where RCB easily beat GT by 92 runs to book their spot first.

RCB are the defending champions and will start the match as the favourites to defend their trophy. This year, they aren't just relying on one or two big superstars. Instead, the whole team is stepping up. The main man to watch is their captain, Rajat Patidar. In the last game against Gujarat, he smashed a brilliant 93 runs off just 33 balls. He knows exactly when to play carefully and when to attack. With a strong bowling lineup backing him up, RCB looks ready to win the trophy two years in a row.

On the other side, the Gujarat Titans are hunting for revenge. Even though they lost badly to RCB a few days ago, they showed great fight by winning their next knockout match to reach the final.

GT's biggest strength is their opening batting pair, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan. Cricket experts have called them one of the best opening duos in IPL history because they understand each other's game perfectly and score runs very consistently.

For GT to win this time, they need to fix their mistakes from the last game. Their players admitted that chasing a massive target put too much pressure on them, and their fielding was poor. If the Titans can hold onto their catches, handle the pressure, and get a big start from Gill and Sudharsan, they have a great chance to upset the champions and lift the trophy.

Squad for both teams:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru:

Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Will Jacks, Cameron Green, Yash Dayal, Lockie Ferguson, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Suyash Prabhudessai, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Mayank Dagar, Reece Topley, Tom Curran, Alzarri Joseph, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Saurav Chauhan, Vijaykumar Vyshak.

Gujarat Titans:

Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, David Miller, Kane Williamson, Matthew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha, Shahrukh Khan, Abhinav Manohar, B. Sai Sudharsan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Warrier, Umesh Yadav, Kartik Tyagi, Spencer Johnson, R. Sai Kishore, Manav Suthar, Sushant Mishra.