IPL 2026: RCB's Back-to-Back Title, Sooryavanshi's Records and the Full Season Review

IPL 2026: The Complete Season Review — Winners, Highlights, Records and Every Team's Journey

Who won IPL 2026?

Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the IPL 2026 title, defeating Gujarat Titans by five wickets in the final at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on May 31. Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 75 off 42 balls to guide the chase. RCB became only the third franchise in IPL history to successfully defend their title, joining Chennai Super Kings (2010–11) and Mumbai Indians (2019–20). They also became the first team to win both the IPL and the Women's Premier League in the same year.

Who won the Orange Cap and Purple Cap in IPL 2026?

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi of Rajasthan Royals won the Orange Cap with 776 runs at a strike rate of 237.31 — the highest of any Orange Cap winner in IPL history. He also won the MVP, Emerging Player, Super Striker, and Super Sixes awards. Kagiso Rabada of Gujarat Titans won the Purple Cap with 29 wickets to finish as the tournament's leading wicket-taker.

IPL 2026 is over. Seventy-four matches. Sixty-six days. One teenager who rewrote the record books. One defending champion that did something only two franchises had ever done before. And a final that felt inevitable for two months and still delivered exactly what it promised.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru are back-to-back IPL champions. Virat Kohli hit the winning six. A crowd of 132,000 at the Narendra Modi Stadium watched it happen. And a 15-year-old from Rajasthan spent the whole season reminding everyone that the future of Indian cricket had already arrived.

Here is the complete IPL 2026 review.

Tournament at a Glance

All 10 Teams

Final Points Table — League Stage

✅ = Qualified for playoffs | ❌ = Eliminated after group stage

Playoff Results

The Final — RCB vs Gujarat Titans, May 31

Gujarat Titans: 155/8 (20 overs)

GT had a difficult day with the bat. Both their openers fell inside the powerplay, leaving them rebuilding throughout the middle overs. Washington Sundar top-scored with an unbeaten 50 to drag them to a competitive — but ultimately insufficient — total. Rasikh Salam took 3/27, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood took two each to restrict Gujarat to 155/8.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 161/5 (18 overs)

Virat Kohli and Venkatesh Iyer added a half-century opening stand in just 3.3 overs — the fastest team fifty in an IPL final, surpassing CSK's record at the same venue. Iyer fell for 32 off 16. Rashid Khan then dismissed Patidar and Krunal Pandya in the same over to reduce RCB to 91/4. Kohli didn't flinch. He brought up his fifty in 25 balls — his fastest IPL half-century ever — and sealed the title with a six. Final score: 75* off 42 balls, nine fours, three sixes. RCB won with 12 balls to spare, becoming only the third team to defend the IPL title.

What Was New in IPL 2026

Reversed group format: The group format was reversed to mirror the 2023 IPL. Each team played once against teams in their own group and twice against teams in the other group — 14 league matches per team.

13 venues: The tournament spread across 13 stadiums for the first time, adding the HPCA Cricket Stadium in Dharamsala and the ACA Cricket Stadium as secondary venues for selected franchises.

84-match expansion shelved: The IPL Governing Council had announced plans to expand to 84 matches for 2026, but kept the number at 74 for one more season. The 84-match format is expected from 2027.

Bangladeshi players controversy: Following anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh in 2025 and the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das in December 2025, there were calls for the exclusion of Bangladeshi players from the IPL. The BCCI did not impose a ban, but the issue generated significant debate through the auction period.

Record auction: Cameron Green became the most expensive overseas player ever when Kolkata Knight Riders bought him for ₹25.20 crore. Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma became joint-most expensive uncapped players at ₹14.20 crore each, both to Chennai Super Kings.

Closing ceremony: A closing ceremony was held during the innings break of the final, featuring a live performance from Kailash Kher, a laser light show, and fireworks at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

Tournament Highlights

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi — The 15-Year-Old Who Changed Everything

Sooryavanshi dominated the individual honours, winning the Orange Cap, MVP award, Emerging Player award, Super Striker award, and Super Sixes award. The stats he produced across 16 matches for Rajasthan Royals were almost implausible:

• 776 runs at a strike rate of 237.31
• 72 sixes — breaking Chris Gayle's record for most sixes in a single IPL season
• Fastest century in the tournament: 36 balls vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
• Became the fastest player in history to score 1,000 T20 runs in terms of deliveries faced (473)
• Youngest Orange Cap winner in IPL history

He finished the season the same age as most students sitting their secondary school exams.

KL Rahul's 152* — Highest Individual Score by an Indian in IPL History

KL Rahul scored 152* for Delhi Capitals against Punjab Kings — the highest score ever by an Indian batter in IPL history. The innings rewrote the record books and announced Delhi as a dark horse early in the tournament before they narrowly missed the playoffs.

Virat Kohli's 9,000th IPL Run

Kohli became the first player in IPL history to reach 9,000 runs during the league stage. He finished with 648 runs across the season — not the Orange Cap, but the innings that mattered most came when it counted.

Punjab Kings Post IPL's Highest-Ever Total

Punjab Kings posted 265/4 against Delhi Capitals — the highest total in IPL history. Delhi responded with a record successful chase of 264 in the return fixture, which is the highest successful run chase in IPL history.

Shubman Gill — 722 Runs and a Century in Qualifier 2

Gill's 104 off 53 balls in Qualifier 2 against Rajasthan Royals powered a 150-run opening stand with Sai Sudharsan that effectively ended the match as a contest. Gill finished with 722 runs for the season — second only to Sooryavanshi.

RCB's Fastest Team Fifty in an IPL Final

Virat Kohli and Venkatesh Iyer's opening partnership reached fifty in 3.3 overs in the final — the fastest team fifty in IPL final history, surpassing CSK's mark at the same venue against the same opponents in 2023.

Lucknow–KKR Super Over

One of the matches of the season — Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders finished tied and went to a Super Over, with KKR winning it off the final ball in a finish that had Eden Gardens on its feet.

Top Run-Scorers — Final Orange Cap Table

Top Wicket-Takers — Final Purple Cap Table

Season Records

Team-by-Team Summary

🏆 Royal Challengers Bengaluru — Champions Topped the group stage with 10 wins, won Qualifier 1, and defended the title in the final. The most complete team of the tournament — Rasikh Salam and Bhuvneshwar Kumar led a disciplined bowling attack while Kohli anchored the batting when it mattered most. Josh Hazlewood in the death overs was unplayable. RCB became the first team to win both the IPL and Women's Premier League in the same year.

Gujarat Titans — Runners-Up Shubman Gill's captaincy and batting were extraordinary — 722 runs and a match-winning century in Qualifier 2. Kagiso Rabada dominated with the ball all season. They beat RCB in Qualifier 1 (wait — GT lost Q1 and came through Q2). GT qualified for their third IPL final, having been champions in 2022 and runners-up in 2023.

Rajasthan Royals — Semi-Finalists Sooryavanshi's season was historic but Rajasthan couldn't survive the Qualifier 2 against Gujarat's Gill. Jofra Archer's 25 wickets and Sanju Samson's leadership gave them genuine character throughout the group stage.

Kolkata Knight Riders — Semi-Finalists Ajinkya Rahane led a steady campaign, finishing fourth. Cameron Green's ₹25.20 crore auction price made him the most expensive overseas player ever — he provided the firepower KKR needed in the middle order. Mustafizur Rahman arrived from Bangladesh at ₹9.2 crore and contributed significantly before the controversy around his participation died down.

Delhi Capitals — 5th Place KL Rahul's 152* was the innings of the tournament outside Sooryavanshi's season. Delhi were in playoff contention until the final two weeks, narrowly missing out on NRR.

Chennai Super Kings — 6th Place A mid-table campaign, finishing level on points with Delhi but below on NRR. Ruturaj Gaikwad's leadership is clearly still a work in progress without MS Dhoni.

Sunrisers Hyderabad — 7th Place Heinrich Klaasen and Ishan Kishan gave them one of the most dangerous top orders in the tournament, but their bowling leaked too many runs. Pat Cummins' captaincy couldn't balance the attack all season.

Lucknow Super Giants — 8th Place Five wins, one Super Over heartbreak against KKR. Prince Yadav's 16 wickets gave them a weapon the rest of their attack couldn't match.

Punjab Kings — 9th Place Posted the highest total in IPL history (265/4) and conceded the highest successful chase ever in the same season. Their bowling attack's inability to defend totals cost them throughout.

Mumbai Indians — 10th Place Hardik Pandya's leadership couldn't translate to wins. Four wins from 14 matches was the worst campaign in recent Mumbai memory.

What Comes Next

RCB are already talking about a threepeat. Josh Hazlewood said after the final: "A threepeat, we can't see why not." Virat Kohli is now touring England. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is 15 and has already broken Chris Gayle's six-hitting record. The IPL Governing Council is expected to confirm the 84-match expansion for 2027.

The 2026 season had everything: a teenager breaking records nobody expected to see broken for another decade, a defending champion who refused to drop their level, and a final in front of the largest crowd ever to watch an IPL match. IPL 2026 will be remembered as the season cricket officially met its youngest superstar.