Driven by a collective bowling effort and Virat Kohli's clinical unbeaten 75, Royal Challengers Bengaluru completed consecutive title wins, defeating Gujarat Titans by 5 wickets in the final of IPL 2026 in Ahmedabad on Sunday (May 31). RCB have now become the fourth team after CSK, MI and KKR to register multiple title wins in the IPL in its 19-year history.

After a largely comfortable win in the final, here's how the players reacted to their triumph.

Krunal Pandya: Every IPL is always special. It's like having kids, you can't pick. Similarly with IPL, everything is so much harder. So glad and grateful. In 11 years to have five trophies is pretty special for me.

Lot of credit goes to the support staff - Mo Bobat, Andy Flower, Dinesh Karthik, Malolan Rangarajan. The way they prepared for the auction last year, and the way they set the team, the balance of it. Sometimes, half the battle is won at the auction. They did a pretty good job. And then, eventually, it was on us to go out and deliver. Glad that we were able to have the trophy back-to-back.

18 years of waiting, and winning the trophy back to back is for the RCB fans. Wherever we have gone, they have supported us. And for Virat as well, after 18-19 seasons, having two back to back trophies is amazing.

Virat Kohli:I said to [a] few of the boys - it doesn't feel like the same kind of pressure like last year. We knew what kind of ability we have in the group. We topped the table, there's a reason why we got here first. We just said one thing - if we stick to our cricket and we execute our plans, we are the best team in the competition. There's a reason we have done well in the group stage; we ended up topping the league stage and just the skillsets we have, the maturity and the composure of our guys, shone through tonight. It was a clinical performance.

After the break, we had one loss and a close win against MI. That week was a bit tricky because we wanted to finish on the top. But as soon as we got that win against MI, the belief kick backed in. We had a comprehensive win against KKR, ended up topping the table and on our way to the final.

We have had to wait for so long, it's just amazing. Just to have a group of guys where you feel like when you're stepping on to the ground, you don't need to be the one stepping up every time. There are guys around you, behind you who can win games of cricket. We have so many Man of the Match awards spread throughout the group as well. We have world class bowling as well. Krunal Pandya, you can bank on him as good as ever. Rasikh Dar was brilliant this season. I feel so happy to play in a season where we have balance, we have strength and we are an all-round strong team. That's why we have the confidence that we have on the field right now.

Jitesh Sharma:As someone had mentioned earlier, we are not defending the trophy, we are attacking. Because of that, our mindset changed, wherein we are trying to dominate more. All credit goes to the management, the way they nourished us, the kind of atmosphere they provided. DK anna the way he handled me, when I wasn't performing well. It shows that good people are respected, you don't need to be a big player. We knew we were a strong team, but we were focussing on one game at a time - the tactics, execution. Just focused on the execution. Maybe next year we might win a third title.

Josh Hazlewood: [Where does this rank?] That's right up there. I think, obviously, a little bit more relaxed within the group this year. Sort of got the monkey off the back last year in terms of a long wait for that first win. But I think the group just felt calm and composed throughout the whole tournament, really. Someone stepped up when they needed to be. I think we had, again, like ten Man of the Matches. So amazing depth in the squad. Anyone who came in did a great job and to bowl with Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) is pretty special. I can't remember a game where he went for over 35 runs. In this day and age, it's unbelievable. [He] got wickets up front nearly every game he played. It just took the heat off, I think, the rest of us. We could relax and we're bowling at numbers 4 and 5 in the Powerplay so it's pretty nice.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar:Trophy is the most important thing for us. I would trade [the Purple Cap] any day with that. But, yes, individually, [the] season went well for me. There was planning, there were a lot of things before the season, and it went well. I think if you take wickets... confidence [goes] up. And I think coming into a big game like that, if you have performed well in the past, it always helps. But I think credit goes to each and every one. If he [Hazlewood] didn't do well, I was there. If I didn't do well, Rasikh was there. So I think we all had each other's back and that's what you need in a big game like that. I think the franchise has been put together beautifully.

Not just the players, but I think the support staff. Again, it's a nice, relaxed atmosphere to try and play your best cricket in and perform. Everyone just seems to have a good time in this group. I think it's hard to build that culture so quickly when the team changes quite a bit every three years. But it feels like we've got that now. Obviously, winning helps, but it just feels like the team's quite a tight unit, and we're playing for someone else other than ourselves all the time. So, it's a nice feeling. Three-peat? Yeah, I can't see why not (laughs).

Devdutt Padikkal:It's been incredible. Honestly, the entire group just batting with these guys has been really, really special. When you have such quality around you, I think it makes you go up a level, and I think that's what's happened with me. [On the bowling unit] they've been unbelievable throughout the season. The plans that they execute day in, day out is incredible to see. I've been in a few meetings. I see how meticulously they plan, and when they go out there, they go and follow it to the T. So having that kind of professionalism is great to have, and that's what's put us in good stead. [On Kohli] When each wicket fell, I was just talking to Venky. He was asking me, are you getting nervous?

I was like, as long as he's there, there's no need to be nervous, because he knows what he's doing, and he does it every single time. So yeah, just watching him continue to improve his game. He's not stayed still, he's continuously evolving, continuously working on his game. You can see that he's hungry for more, so it's great to see that. After the season finished last year, we spoke about trying to go back-to-back and just making sure that we stick to that feeling of winning games, stick to that feeling of winning trophies, and I'm glad that we were able to do it. I'm really grateful that I was able to make this one (final).