For Gujarat Titans, this was supposed to be Ahmedabad's night.
Instead, it became an Ahmeda-bad evening for Shubman Gill's men.
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On a stage draped in blue, in front of a crowd willing the home side towards a second IPL crown, Royal Challengers Bengaluru once again arrived like champions who no longer carry the burden of history. They carried certainty. They carried belief. And, as they have so often over the last two seasons, they carried Virat Kohli.
Chasing a modest but tricky 156, RCB were never reckless. They were relentless. Kohli, the grandmaster of the chase and the heartbeat of this franchise, produced yet another knockout innings, crafting a half-century that sucked the anxiety out of the contest and the hope out of Gujarat's defence. It was not his most explosive knock. It did not need to be. It was a classic Kohli pursuit — measured, intelligent and utterly inevitable.
The numbers will show another fifty. The final will remember much more than that.
For a franchise that spent nearly two decades being cricket's great unfinished story, this felt like the final confirmation that last year's title was not an emotional one-off. This is now a team that understands how to win the biggest games. Two titles in two years is not a breakthrough. It is the beginning of a legacy.
Yet Gujarat refused to make it easy.
After being restricted to 155, a total that always felt 20 runs short on a placid Ahmedabad surface, the Titans fought with the stubbornness that has defined much of their short IPL history. Rashid Khan, magnificent as ever, dragged the contest deeper than it deserved to go. His spell was a reminder that class survives even when the scoreboard does not cooperate. Every wicket he took briefly reignited belief. Every dot ball lifted the noise levels.
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And then there was Rajat Patidar — the quiet captain who has turned Royal Challengers Bengaluru from cricket’s great underachievers into a title machine.
A year after leading RCB to their long-awaited maiden IPL crown, Patidar is set to script history again, becoming only the third captain after MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma to guide a franchise to back-to-back IPL titles. If last season was about breaking an 18-year curse, this one has been about building a champion's mentality.
Patidar’s numbers do not scream for attention, but his captaincy has. RCB topped the league stage, steamrolled Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1, and entered the final carrying the assurance of a side that no longer panics under pressure. The 31-year-old has fostered a dressing-room culture built on clarity and calm, repeatedly insisting throughout the season that every game was “just another match” despite the mounting expectations around a title defence.
His fingerprints were all over the campaign. Whether it was trusting Josh Hazlewood in crunch overs, backing Krunal Pandya's experience on spin-friendly surfaces, or ensuring Virat Kohli could play the anchor's role without the burden of forcing the pace, Patidar's tactical calls consistently landed.
Most importantly, Patidar has managed something few RCB leaders before him could: he has made the franchise feel bigger than its baggage. For years, RCB were defined by near-misses, heartbreaks and dependence on individual brilliance
But Gujarat's bowlers were left carrying a burden that should never have been theirs alone.
The real disappointment lay with the batting.
Too many starts disappeared. Too many big names drifted through the final without leaving a mark. At no point did the innings gather the momentum expected from a side stacked with stroke-makers and match-winners. The scoreboard moved, but never surged. The pressure remained, and RCB's attack, led by the discipline of Josh Hazlewood and the control of Krunal Pandya, squeezed relentlessly.
By the halfway mark, the script already felt familiar.
RCB had been the better side for most of the season. They entered the final as favourites. They played like favourites. And when the moment arrived to finish the job, they handed the chase to the one man who has spent nearly two decades making impossible pursuits look routine.
Kohli has worn many labels across his career — superstar, run machine, icon, leader.
On nights like these, one title fits best- King Kohli.
And with another IPL trophy glistening under the Ahmedabad lights, his kingdom just got bigger
