Rajat Patidar (BCCI/IPL Photo)

New Delhi: When emotions, cheers and roars echoed around the Narendra Modi Stadium Rajat Patidar The move was stepped up for the post-match presentation after Royal Challengers Bangalore clinched their second consecutive IPL title with a five-wicket win over Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2026 final in Ahmedabad.RCB, which won its maiden IPL title in Ahmedabad in 2025, successfully defended the title a year later, becoming only the third franchise after Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings to achieve the feat. The victory also extended the streak of Qualifier 1 winners lifting the trophy to nine consecutive seasons. The win put Patidar in elite company, making him the third captain in IPL history to win two consecutive titles.MS Dhoni achieved the feat with Chennai Super Kings in 2010 and 2011, while Rohit Sharma led Mumbai Indians to glory in 2019 and 2020.The moment he won the title, Patidar took to social media and expressed the achievement in four words.Patidar wrote, “Ee Saala Cup Namdu”.Reflecting on the campaign, Patidar admitted that the pressure this season was very different from what the team experienced a year ago.“Last year was a lot of pressure, this year was more calm because the way we played throughout the tournament, we dominated this year,” Patidar said after the match.“So we were confident that if we play like this we will definitely win the second title for RCB.”Speaking about his captaincy style, Patidar said that his calm nature should not be confused with lack of awareness.“I am not expressive but at the same time I am aware of the playing situation. Of course you need support, which as I said was a lot of support by the management and the players as well.”

Patidar also gave special praise Virat KohliHe said that the former captain’s influence on and off the field continues to inspire the team.Kohli played an unbeaten inning of 75 runs while chasing RCB’s target of 156 runs against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad and led the team to victory with two overs to spare.The star batsman finished the season with 675 runs, which included one century and five half-centuries.“If I speak about Virat Kohli, I don’t have words to explain him. He is used to doing great things,” Patidar told reporters.“He is a great player, everyone knows him – the way he bats. We all get a chance to learn from him on and off the field. We spend a lot of time with him and try to learn everything he says about cricket or anything else,” the RCB skipper said.