5 similarities between RCB’s IPL 2025 and IPL 2026 run to the finals 

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) secured their second straight Indian Premier League (IPL) final after defeating the Gujarat Titans (GT) by 92 runs in the Qualifier 1 clash in Dharamshala, on Tuesday, May 26. They could prove to be one of the rare teams in the competition’s history to successfully defend their title, and their journey over the last two seasons have a few set of intricate similarities.

RCB’s consecutive run to the finals comes with almost the same core group of players after limited releases during the off-season, and only a handful of acquisitions during the auction. Playing the same brand of cricket which brought them success in the previous year, they have now made it to yet another final.

On that note, let us take a look at the five similarities between RCB’s IPL 2025 and IPL 2026 run to the finals.

#1 Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar, and Josh Hazlewood were all unavailable at some stage of the campaign in 2025 and 2026

RCB have been hit with minor injury concerns over the course of the last two seasons, but strangely enough it is same injured from the 2025 season, that were once again on the casualty list in the 2026 campaign as well.

Aside from Devdutt Padikkal, who was ruled out midway through the last season, the injury list for both season reads same. Phil Salt missed a few games due to illness in 2025, while in 2026 he was ruled out for a longer period of time due to a finger injury.

RCB skipper Rajat Patidar missed a few matches in IPL 2025 due to an injury. In IPL 2026, he was ruled out for a game due to a concussion he sustained against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

Josh Hazlewood’s injury record and workload resulted in an injury at a crucial phase of the IPL 2025 campaign. His availability was once again a question mark in IPL 2026, and he missed a few matches in the early stages of the season, with new signing Jacob Duffy filling in for him.

#2 Dominant wins in Qualifier 1

RCB celebrated their first Qualifier 1 appearance since the IPL 2016 campaign with a thumping 10-wicket win over the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their own turf in Mullanpur. The Rajat Patidar-led side bundled out the opposition for just 101, and went on to chase the target down with 10 overs to spare to secure a berth in the final.

Similarly, in the IPL 2026 Qualifier 1, RCB dominated the Gujarat Titans (GT) in Dharamshala to breeze into the finals once again. On this occasion, the defending champions slammed 254 on the board, before bowling out the Shubman Gill-led side for 162, to win by a massive margin of 92 runs.

#3 Losing a rain-interrupted match

Both IPL 2025 and 2026 witnessed RCB lose a match that had an interference by rain at some stage or the other.

Last year, RCB’s home clash against the Punjab Kings (PBKS), was heavily affected due to rain, leading to a shortened 14-overs-per-side clash. After the hosts finished with just 95-9 in the first innings, they failed to defend the score as Shreyas Iyer and co. sealed the deal with 11 deliveries to spare.

Coming to IPL 2026, RCB’s away encounter against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) had a brief interruption due to rain, leading to an over being lost. Much like last year, the Rajat Patidar-led side ended up on the losing side after being handed a massive target following Mitchell Marsh’s hundred.

RCB put in a valiant effort during the run chase, but ended up falling short by nine runs.

#4 9 wins in the league stage, and losses against the same three teams

While RCB finished with an extra point in IPL 2025 compared to IPL 2026, due to a washed out contest, they had the equal number of wins (9) on both occasions.

Across the two seasons, they lost a total of nine matches. However, there were three losses that were almost of the exact same nature across both seasons.

RCB lost to Delhi Capitals (DC) at home, and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) away from home (Ekana Stadium in 2025), in both seasons. They also lost to Gujarat Titans in IPL 2025 and 2026 as well.

#5 Eerie same pattern across the first four matches of the season

RCB’s first four matches across both the seasons followed almost the exact same pattern. In 2025, they kick-started their season with a successful run chase (against KKR), before facing their rivals CSK in the second match and recording a convincing win (by 50 runs). They then lost for the first time in the third match of the season while failing to defend a target (lost by eight wickets to GT), and then defended MI at the Wankhede Stadium by posting a massive score and defending it (scored 221-5 and won by 12 runs).

In IPL 2026, much like last year, they began their season with a successful run chase (against SRH). They then had CSK on their fixture list as the second match once again, and secured another convincing win (by 43 runs). Again, their third match of the season resulted in a loss after failing to defend a target (lost by six wickets to RR). Their fourth match of the season was away to MI like last year, following the same trend, where they posted a massive score and defended it successfully (scored 240-4 and won by 18 runs).