IPL 2026: Former Indian off-spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin believes that Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will be successful in defending their title in the final match of IPL 2026. He said that RCB can lose this final only because of its mistakes.
RCB will face Gujarat Titans (GT) in the title match at Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. RCB got the ticket for the final by defeating GT in the first qualifier. In the league stage, RCB won 9 out of 14 matches played, while the team had to face defeat in 5 matches.
Expressed confidence in RCB
Speaking to GeoHotStar, Ashwin said, “GT is playing on their home ground and they have dominated there or made it a fortress. This is something that will really give them that extra boost going into the final. RCB doesn’t care whether they bat first or bowl first. This is their final. They are going in as favourites. RCB should just play aggressive cricket like they have all season.”
Great performance by RCB in the first qualifier
RCB had a strong performance against Gujarat Titans in the first qualifier. Batting first, RCB scored 254 runs on the score board after losing 5 wickets in 20 overs. On behalf of the team, captain Rajat Patidar batted in a explosive style and played a brilliant inning of 93 runs in just 33 balls.
Rajat had hit 5 fours and 9 sixes in his innings. At the same time, Virat Kohli played a strong inning of 43 runs in 25 balls, while Krunal Pandya also contributed 43 runs in 28 balls. However, in response to this, the entire team of Gujarat Titans was out after scoring only 162 runs. On behalf of the team, Rahul Tewatia had scored the highest run of 68 runs, while Shubman Gill, Sai Sudarshan and Jos Buttler could not show anything special with the bat. In bowling for RCB, Jacob Duffy took 3 wickets for 39 runs in 4 overs, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salam and Krunal Pandya took two wickets each.