Somewhere around the fourth over, when Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were just about warming up with their chase, Kagiso Rabada came up with a 150-plus delivery that rose just about enough from good length. The chasemaster was on it from the word go. That flick off the wrists; that swag as he ignored it the moment the ball left the bat; the soar over deep mid-wicket as it landed into the stands; and the electrifying applause that lit up the massive Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad late Sunday evening had “Ee salanoo cup namde (the cup is ours this year too)” written all over it. Virat Kohli’s 42-ball 75, at a strike rate of 178.5, laced with nine boundaries and three sixes— none of which were slogs by any degree—became the showstopper to another fantastic season of the Indian Premier League.Also Read: Andy Flower- The Luis Enrique of RCB, transforming team to back-to-back IPL championsIt was only apt that the tournament’s most valuable player—the highest scorer of the season and the breaker of records—15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was in the stands absorbing the action. The world’s most prominent cricket administrators, under the leadership of International Cricket Council chairman Jay Shah, had assembled for the final and it was only fitting that a South African fast bowler, an Afghanistan spinner, a former England T20 captain, the India Test and ODI skipper, one of West Indies’ better allrounders, a leading Australian pacer and the game’s leading global superstar were all in action at the biggest cricket stadium in the world – underlining the IPL’s uniqueness, star power and value proposition, all at one go. Dew ensured that the team that won the toss elected to field first, but it was Gujarat Titans’ ordinary showing with the bat that gave RCB an early advantage in the game. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood’s early strikes restricted Gujarat from getting the kind of start they’d have liked and from there on, RCB kept giving themselves the edge as the game progressed.Also Read: With this RCB group, you don't need to be the one to step up every time, says Virat KohliIn the end, it was a mix of disciplined bowling and Kohli’s masterclass that made all the difference. In the run-up to this season of the IPL, two franchises – RCB and Rajasthan Royals–had seen a change in ownership. UK-based steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal and his family along with Pune-based businessman Adar Poonawalla alongside a consortium bought the Rajasthan franchise for approximately Rs 15,660 crore ($1.65b). RCB was bought by a consortium comprising Aditya Birla Group, The Times of India (publishers of The Economic Times), Bolt Ventures and a Blackstone fund for Rs 16,705 crore ($1.78b). The new RCB owners were present at the stadium to cheer their side as they became only the third team in IPL to win back-to-back titles after Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.The 2026 season also saw a flurry of team and individual records being broken. Punjab Kings’ successful chase of 265 vs Delhi Capitals was the highest in 18 years of IPL while at an overall level, teams managed to score 200 or more runs per innings for a record-breaking 61 times this season. The season also saw the highest number of sixes in an IPL year—1,426—compared with 1,294 in 2025. At an individual level, the young Sooryavanshi smashed 72 sixes this season, breaking Chris Gayle’s record of 59 set in 2012.