After 73 matches and countless sixes and runs and some tremendous moments, the Indian Premier League 2026 is here with its grand finale, where Rajat Patidar is on the line of matching history. In contrast, Shubman Gill is eyeing his first trophy as captain. Both teams have dominated the rest in the world’s toughest league. Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharshan outplayed their opponents with fierce batting; on the other hand, Gill, the GT captain, hammered a century in the last match in the qualifier 2 and sealed the spot in the finals.
This season has remained a defining one for the Indian long-format captain, Shubman Gill. After getting snubbed from the Indian World Cup T20I team, he has updated his game and changed his batting style by increasing his batting strike rate. On the other hand, the king is ready to defend his crown with a solid strike rate of nearly 165; he has hammered 600 runs and will be looking to increase the tally with a blistering knock in his fifth IPL final.
Big chance for Patidar
If Sunday evening swings in Rajat Patidar’s favour, he will become only the third IPL captain to defend a title successfully. Interestingly, recent history has not been kind to defending champions’ captains. Since 2023, a pattern has emerged where the captain of the reigning champions has reached consecutive IPL finals but failed to retain the trophy.
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Hardik Pandya led Gujarat Titans to the title in 2022 before falling short in the 2023 final against Chennai Super Kings. Similarly, Shreyas Iyer guided Kolkata Knight Riders to glory in 2024 but could not defend the crown in 2025.
Now, the spotlight is on Patidar. If the RCB skipper manages to lift the trophy again in 2026, he will not only join an elite list of defending champions’ captains but also break a trend that has persisted for the last three seasons. Whether history repeats itself or Patidar rewrites it will be decided on Sunday night.
One last push 💪
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 31, 2026
One 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗣 🔥
The ultimate prize awaits on the other side 🏆#TATAIPL | #Final | #TheFinalLeap | #RCBvGT | @RCBTweets | @gujarat_titans pic.twitter.com/PdqvLhyjpA
What to expect?
As reported by Cricbuzz, a run-filled contest could be on the cards, with the toss-winning captain likely to opt for batting first in the grand finale. On paper, Royal Challengers Bengaluru may seem to have the stronger lineup, but their record at the venue offers a note of caution. RCB lost their most recent match here against Gujarat Titans, who have turned the ground into a fortress by winning five of their seven home games at the venue this season.
Probable XIIs
Gujarat Titans- Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Arshad Khan/R Sai Kishore
Royal Challengers Bengaluru- Venkatesh Iyer, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Salam Dar, Jacob Duffy, Romario Shepherd
