A thorough domination by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) during the league stage, then in the Qualifier 1 and in the final propelled them to their second IPL title on Sunday, May 31.
In the IPL 2026 final, Rajat Patidar’s men thumped the Gujarat Titans (GT) at the latter’s home ground, Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, though it felt that the crowd consisted of a majority of RCB fans clad in red jerseys.
Patidar had won the toss and elected to bowl first. The pitch played tackily in the first half of the game, with RCB pacers being highly effective on it with short balls.
None of GT’s top four scored more than 20 runs, and they could reach 155 only through Washington Sundar’s 50 (37). Rasikh Salam Dar claimed three wickets, while Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood bagged a brace each, and Krunal Pandya took one scalp.
Chase master Virat Kohli aced yet another chase to raise his 68th half-century in the IPL, and he brought it up in only 25 balls, giving more glimpses of his new aggressive avatar in the IPL. Other RCB batters played cameos around Kohli as RCB successfully defended their IPL crown.
RCB became the third team in IPL history, after CSK (2010, 2011) and MI (2019, 2020), to win two consecutive IPL titles.
This victory is also special and a record-equaling one for Krunal Pandya, who joined some of the greats of the IPL, including his brother Hardik Pandya, in an elite list of players who have won 5 or more IPL trophies.
So far, only six players had won five or more IPL titles, with two winning six, and now Krunal has become the seventh addition to this tally.
Who has won the most IPL trophies?
Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu have won six IPL trophies each, the most by any player in IPL history. Rohit won the 2009 IPL with Deccan Chargers, and then later on lead Mumbai Indians to five titles. Rayudu won his first three IPL titles with MI and then three with CSK.
Next on this list are MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Kieron Pollard with five IPL titles each. Dhoni won all five with CSK; Bumrah and Pollard with MI; and Hardik was part of four IPL-winning seasons with MI before captaining Gujarat Titans to the title in 2022.
How many IPL trophies has Krunal Pandya won?
Krunal has now won 5 IPL titles. With MI, he won the trophy in the 2017, 2019, and 2020 IPL. Then, he was part of RCB’s back-to-back title-winning seasons in 2025 and 2026. Krunal is the only player to win two Man of the Match awards in an IPL final (2017, 2025).
Players to win the most IPL trophies:
- Rohit Sharma – 6
- Ambati Rayudu – 6
- MS Dhoni – 5
- Jasprit Bumrah – 5
- Kieron Pollard – 5
- Hardik Pandya – 5
- Krunal Pandya – 5
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