Virat Kohli and Royal Challengers Bengaluru will attempt to win a second consecutive IPL title when they face Gujarat Titans in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
RCB topped the league table and beat Gujarat by 92 runs in Qualifier 1, with Rajat Patidar’s unbeaten 93 off 33 balls and Kohli’s attacking 43 powering them to a mammoth 254.
It was a statement performance that underlined why they arrive as favourites at the world’s biggest cricket ground, the same venue where they lifted their maiden title in 2025.
Gujarat bounced back in style, hammering Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 to reach their third final in five years, having won the title in 2022.
Shubman Gill was at the heart of their revival, hitting 104 in New Chandigarh on Friday. The India captain has scored 722 runs this season, second only to Rajasthan’s Vaibhav Sooryavanshi on 776.
Opening partner Sai Sudharsan is third with 710, making GT’s top order the most prolific in the competition.
Gujarat’s director of cricket Vikram Solanki was measured in his assessment after the defeat to RCB.
“If you come off the back of a defeat, you can’t get too low, because more often than not, you’re preparing for the next game.”
Kohli has scored 600 runs this season at an average of 50.00, including one century and four half-centuries in 15 matches. RCB’s director of cricket Mo Bobat said experience would be decisive on Sunday.
“Everybody understands what Virat Kohli brings, his intensity, his fight, his hunger. Experience counts for a lot in pressure games.”
With more than 100,000 fans expected at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Sunday’s final promises to be one of the great occasions in IPL history.
– AFP
Photo: REUTERS/Sahiba Chawdhary
