Royal Challengers Bangalore are the cricketing equivalent of football club Tottenham Hotspur, with both the teams facing an exhausting trophy drought before the 2025 season proved to be a lucky charm. Be it via Krunal Pandya’s match-winning spell of 2/17 or Brennan Johnson’s first-half goal, fans who’d remained loyal over years of heartbreak were finally experiencing a state of euphoria. Although the tragic stampede during the victory parade outside the Chinnaswamy stadium rendered the celebrations short-lived, on field the franchise had finally done justice to its star-studded moniker.
Rajat Patidar, who walked into the squad three years ago as an injury replacement to spank a hundred off 49 balls in the all-important playoff versus Lucknow Super Giants, was posing on stage with the silverware that his side couldn’t lay their hands on in 18 editions. It was an incredible turn of events for the Madhya Pradesh virtuoso whose India career had begun on a torrid note during the 2024 home Tests against England. A leadership change that ensued hours of mulling and deliberation, given Virat Kohli was speculated to be in the fray as Royal Challengers Bangalore parted ways with skipper Faf du Plessis, worked like a breeze.
An old titan of the side, Anil Kumble loved how Rajat marshalled his troops despite being wet behind the ears as a captain. “In terms of using the resources in the bowling lineup, he did a good job. He looks very composed and calm under pressure,’’ the leg-spinner said. A mature head on the shoulders is key, not just because their home ground is a bowling hellhole with its true pitch and small dimensions but also since the expectations of the craziest fandom in the league has weighed down men with greater resolve. An Instagram reel audio is popular these days, that ‘once felt so good I had to do it twice’. Kumble reckons it’s not going to be easy to win back-to-back titles.
Royal Challengers Bangalore are in unfamiliar territory heading into this season of the IPL. For the first time in history, they are the defending champions. Last year, everything clicked into gear. The batting had enviable depth, the bowlers absorbed the pressure well and most importantly, there was clarity in role definition. Each player knew exactly what was asked out of them. Now the task is different, can they sustain success to keep off one-hit-wonder claims at bay? Opponent think tanks have conducted their analyses minus the problem of variability as they maintained the core with 17 retentions. There is little room for element of surprise, so rest assured, all tactical gaps will be probed.
On the holders’ part though it makes perfect sense. Why tinker with the winning combination? Liam Livingstone – 112 runs in 10 matches in IPL 2025 – and Lungi Ngidi, who mostly warmed the bench, are the notable internationals released while Mayank Agarwal is a domestic departee. The likely playing eleven of Royal Challengers Bangalore features an elite top-order with a much more affordable Venkatesh Iyer coming in to link up with Phil Salt, Kohli and Patidar. In the middle, Krunal snaps the monotony established by right-handers Jitesh Sharma, Tim David and Romario Shepherd. The pace-heavy attack awaits positive news about Josh Hazlewood’s return, but till then Jacob Duffy is set to serve as a back-up. He was pocketed at his base price at the auction at the behest of Patidar who saw merit in his tall delivery point and lethal outswing, a fun complement to Bhuvneshwar Kumar whose induckers have given nightmares to Aaron Finch.
🛬 Touched down in BLR and straight to business! ❤️🔥🤩
Our overseas stars Romario & Duffy wasted no time getting into the groove. ⚡️🚀#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2026 pic.twitter.com/UonmHTXVA0
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) March 24, 2026
Spin was supposed to be Royal Challengers Bangalore’s weak link in the previous campaign but Suyash Sharma delivered impactful performances and Krunal finished with 17 wickets to ensure Yuzvendra Chahal wasn‘t missed by the contingent. Having scored 73* off 47 versus Delhi Capitals, the all-rounder was among their eight player-of-the-match awardees, a stark divergence from the past where they hinged on the holy trinity of Chris Gayle, Kohli, and AB de Villiers. Debutant Nuwan Thushara was the most economical bowler on both sides in the run-fest involving Lucknow Super Giants, Phil Salt took 30 runs in an over off Mitchell Starc, Devdutt Padikkal improved his strike-rate to notch up 247 runs at one drop, and Jitesh laid their path to Qualifier 1 with an arresting 85* off 33. It was the kind of blitzkrieg that Romario Shepherd is known for producing, and boy did he subject Chennai Super Kings to one, with the 14-ball fifty orchestrating a narrow win.
Another overseas signing which paid them dividends was Hazlewood, a frontrunner for the Purple Cap until a shoulder niggle kept him out of the last three league ties. With April end being the point of calculation, Hazlewood had the second-best economy for a pacer in the PowerPlay, considering the yardstick of at least five overs in that phase. His 18 scalps were spread out across phases: seven in the circle, five in the middle overs, and six at the death. ‘’If Hazlewood is fit, he definitely starts,” according to Kumble. ”There will be a lot of talk about how Jacob Bethell fits into the eleven, but Salt is a no-brainer. The two remaining overseas spots will be taken by David and Shepherd.”
Bethell lit up Wankhede with a 45-ball ton in the T20 World Cup 2026 semi-final, and would be determined to add to his exploits in the subcontinent. Swapnil Singh belongs to the cadre of left-arm spin all-rounders too, completing an Indian roster that flaunts the velocity of Abhinandan Singh, Rasikh Dar and Mangesh Yadav who could slot in for Yash Dayal. U-19 sensation Vihaan Malhotra was a hot pick by Royal Challengers Bangalore at 5.2 crores, having amassed 277 and 243 runs in two Youth Tests and five ODIs respectively. Kanishk Chouhan was also plucked from the Colts camp for his disciplined off-breaks and acceleration ability, something England keeper-bat Jordan Cox brings to the table as well.
There was an outpouring of emotions in Ahmedabad when Royal Challengers Bangalore realized the infuriating jinx had been broken, and the sentimental value of having done it for Kohli was not lost on anyone. A double bonanza should make up nicely for the chronic emptiness that tested the patience of the most iron-willed supporters.
