RCB and the luxury of another option

Nishant Sindhu's promotion was itself a sign that something had gone wrong in the final.

Gujarat Titans spent most of IPL 2026 leaning on a familiar formula. Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan would score the runs at the top. Jos Buttler would arrive at No. 3 and score some more. By the end of the season, the trio had combined for nearly 2,000 runs and carried their team to within touching distance of the trophy.

On Sunday night though, that formula was under strain. Gill and Sudharsan were back in the pavilion before the Powerplay had ended, and it wasn't Buttler walking in at No. 3. Part of that was down to circumstance. Bhuvneshwar Kumar still had three overs left and his record against Buttler is well documented. But holding back the wicketkeeper-batter also felt like an attempt to redistribute responsibility that had sat largely with the top three all season.

The batting order shuffle, a "judgement call made by Ashish Nehra" according to GT's Director of Cricket Vikram Solanki, didn't work. Which meant Sindhu, who had walked in ahead of Buttler at No. 3, lasted only 18 balls. He was caught advancing to Rasikh Salam and picking out Devdutt Padikkal in the deep.

The wicket itself was not the defining moment of the final. Josh Hazlewood removing Gill mattered more. Bhuvneshwar Kumar hurrying Sudharsan mattered more. Virat Kohli's runs in the chase, of course, will be remembered more. But the dismissal captured something that had become a recurring theme through RCB's season.

What separated RCB from the rest was how little seemed to change when circumstances forced them away from their original plans. Yash Dayal's absence removed a key part of the bowling attack that had won the title a year ago. A left-arm option disappeared before the season even began. RCB tried Abhinandan Singh for three games before eventually settling on Rasikh.

"When we gave the chance to Rasikh Dar, he looked confident," Patidar said. "He's been playing in the IPL for the last 3-4 years. He is very much confident about his skills, about his slower ones, back of the hand ones and especially yorkers.

"I think he supported Bhuvi and Hoff in IPL 2026 [very well]. Whenever I see him, he has a clarity about his role. He spent a lot of time with Salvi sir. He is more clear about his plan. I always tell my bowlers. If you have a plan, go and execute it."

Rasikh finished the season with 19 wickets, the eighth-most by any bowler, at an average of 21.30. He wasn't merely a death-overs specialist either, growing into an all-phase bowler as the tournament progressed.

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The final served as a neat summary of that evolution, with Rasikh operating through the innings and returning figures of 3/27. More than the wickets themselves, it was their timing that stood out. Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar created the damage at the top, and Rasikh's strikes ensured GT never recovered.

If Rasikh's season was about filling a gap, Venkatesh Iyer's was about waiting for one.

When RCB assembled their squad, there was no obvious path that led him to opening the batting in an IPL final. Phil Salt occupied that role. And when Salt became unavailable, Jacob Bethell stepped in. When Bethell became unavailable too, it was only then that the responsibility travelled further down the line.

"I've known him since childhood, he's never been fussy about his batting position," Patidar said of Venkatesh. "He has always come forward for the team and he's always batted when he's been asked to. When he came in the beginning, he was batting low. But he got an opportunity when Salt and Bethel were injured, so he was ready. There's nothing new for him because I've seen him open up. He's flexible when it comes to batting."

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Venkatesh finished the season with 209 runs in six innings at an average of 52 and a strike rate of 186, both career-best returns across his six IPL seasons. His ability to step in wherever required ensured RCB rarely felt the churn around their opening combination, while a few timely contributions also helped ease the burden on a middle order that wasn't always firing at full tilt.

His innings in the final wasn't especially pretty. It did not need to be. Chasing 156, Venkatesh used his feet to disrupt the fast bowlers, as he'd done all season, and swung his bat en route to 32 off 16. That contributed to RCB stacking up 64 runs for the first wicket in a middling chase.

Kohli's description of the conversation before the IPL final chase perhaps explained a lot. "Had a simple chat with Venky in the change room," Kohli revealed. "And I just told him one thing: we need to kill the game in the Powerplay. And he said, yeah, let's go. So it was total clarity."

After RCB lifted their second IPL trophy in two years, Patidar was asked about players such as Rasikh and Venkatesh, who were not among the first-choice eleven at the start of the season and spent long weeks carrying drinks, but who looked ready when the time came. The RCB captain credited the coaching staff, particularly head coach Andy Flower and batting coach Dinesh Karthik.

"I can say, I've played for three to four years in IPL, and he is one of the best coaches, I feel," Patidar said of Flower. "Because the way he handles players, not only players who are playing, but I think for him, it's the players who are not playing, the new players who are coming in, the first time they are playing their first IPL season. He spends a lot of time with every individual. So, I don't have words for him, but he's the best coach I've played under.

"I've seen a lot of players who are not getting chances and they're spending a lot of time in the nets with DK. So, I think they were ready. Whenever they get a chance, they will do it for the team."

RCB used only 16 players all season, the joint third-fewest by any team in IPL history. Still, within that group, players such as Rasikh and Venkatesh kept finding new roles. So much so that by the end of the season, Venkatesh had been a finisher, a match-winning No.4 batter, an Impact Player and even an opener. Rasikh, meanwhile, had evolved beyond his cutters and yorkers to become a Powerplay option, a third seamer, and a middle-overs wicket-taker.

The stars still did what stars are supposed to do. Hazlewood took wickets. Bhuvneshwar took wickets. Kohli made runs. Tim David smashed sixes. Those performances are part of why RCB arrived in Ahmedabad as favourites, but the more revealing story sat somewhere else on the team sheet. While GT's final exposed their dependence on a few players, RCB's highlighted the value of having many.