Royal Challengers Bengaluru's IPL 2025 triumph was defined by a hunter's mindset. Their 2026 title defence, however, appears to have sparked an even bigger ambition. Merely hours after celebrations stretched long into the morning, director of cricket Mo Bobat was talking about pursuing an "infinite goal".
Bobat sensed that the pressure of the "unknown" disappeared midway through the 2026 season, being replaced by a collective confidence. The points table reflected that as they finished table-toppers and secured a Qualifier 1 spot. Historically, this has been vital to a team's chances of winning the title.
"Last year through the season as we built our confidence, it felt like something we had to achieve and get done and almost tick off that first milestone," Bobat said. "Whereas this year felt quite different. We've tried to push people to be ambitious about going again and there was probably a deeper confidence amongst the player group."
Head coach Andy Flower traced that confidence to some tumultuous beginnings - the difficult first half of the 2024 campaign, where they were rooted to the bottom after eight games. It forced RCB to reassess and commit to certain strategic changes at the end of the season. The proof was in the results: they made the playoffs that season with six wins on the bounce, a streak that set in motion a renaissance several other teams have drawn inspiration from since.
While results have underlined RCB's transformation, their decision-making and auction planning have been the fundamentals they have relied on, backed by a robust scouting mechanism, helping them make the playoffs six times in the last seven seasons.
"Mo has set up a scouting system that is in its initial phases of growth," Flower said. "We had all the scouts with us for the final. It was nice to see all of them together. And that is an important part of what we do with respect to preparation. It is really important to get the best people in the room and we have got a really nice group of scouts. When I say nice, they are guys that we trust their cricket opinions.
"We trust that they are doing their job with due diligence and they are good guys to have in the system. So Malolan [Rangarajan] has been with RCB for a number of years and has also been instrumental in setting up that scouting system with Mo. So we trust that and we are going to build on that."
Flower also attributed a large chunk of the success to their Indian backroom staff. "The Indian coaches have also been absolutely crucial to the success. Omkar Salvi has been great. Malo is really important to our decision-making processes. DK [Dinesh Karthik] is a different kettle of fish altogether, full of energy, full of ideas and he is a great energy to have around. So it is a proper team effort."
This scouting process led them to do solid backroom work in the lead-up to the mega auction in November 2024, which Flower and Bobat believe was the game-changer. They were able to assemble a squad around "battle-tested performers" - Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Krunal Pandya, Tim David, Devdutt Padikkal, Phil Salt and others became their key buys before IPL 2025.
"I don't know whether you can win a competition at the auction," Bobat said. "I think you can probably lose one at the auction. We were quite clear on the attributes and characteristics we wanted from players. That's a combination of skill and character. Some of the best sportsmen, the pressure moments find them. We have got quite a few players where the pressure moments gravitate towards them."
The IPL 2026 final provided glowing evidence. Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood set the tone with the ball, using their hard-lengths ploy against Shubman Gill and B Sai Sudharsan. Krunal once again delivered through the middle overs and Virat Kohli found himself at the centre of their chase.
It was exactly the kind of scenario RCB envisioned when constructing the squad.
'Venky embodied RCB's culture shift'
The real test of a team's environment, Flower pointed out, is often how those outside the playing XII respond, and nobody embodied that better than Venkatesh Iyer, thrusted into the top order when Jacob Bethell was showing middling form with Salt still recovering from injury.
"The cultural part around the players who didn't play or didn't play much is a really important part," Flower said. "Those players who aren't playing all the time, they still need to feel valued and also feel as if they are progressing themselves.
"Venkatesh Iyer sat out after winning the IPLs and playing for India. He had to sit out and be really patient and make sure that he was ready to contribute when he got the chance. He never knew when or if that chance was going to come. When it did come, each time he made contributions."
Iyer only got regular game time towards the back end of the season. In Dharamsala, with Rajat Patidar missing due to a concussion, he made a match-winning 73 against Punjab Kings. Then in his three subsequent games as opener, he responded with cameos of 44, 19 and 32.
"It was such a wonderful example of a mature young man being humble enough to take the bad news on the chin that he wasn't going to get initial opportunities," Flower said. "But to make sure that he was competitive and ready when he got the chance. And that's what he did. And he was a big contributing factor to us closing out this tournament."
Marrying data with evidence-based backing
The same emphasis on clarity was seen in how the franchise approached decision-making. RCB have increasingly developed a reputation as one of the IPL's more analytically sophisticated operations, but Bobat explained data was only one part of the process.
"We don't overly focus on data," Bobat said. "But what I do think we share in common is a desire to have evidence-based decision-making. Philosophically, we both believe in information being a combination of the more objective kind of numbers that can tell you a story, but also what some of our expert eyes and ears see and hear."
That philosophy runs deep. Patidar, as captain, has been regularly exposed to both analytical insights and the intuition of experienced coaches. Karthik's tactical instincts are valued as highly as any statistical model. Importantly, the goal was the same across the board: to create an environment where evidence informs decisions without becoming the decision itself.
In the middle of this process sits analyst Freddie Wilde, whose influence has extended well beyond spreadsheets and match-up data. "He is able to manoeuvre between thinking like an analyst and also thinking and operating a bit like a coach," Bobat said. "He's also quite practically minded. He realises that the numbers won't always tell the full story."
Patidar provided perhaps the clearest example of how that philosophy works in practice. Despite being regarded as one of the best players of spin, Patidar repeatedly sought help from Wilde to prepare against mystery spin.
"On some days, I was feeling difficulties reading [variations from their hand] from the videos," Patidar explained. "So I called Freddie. 'Freddie, please help me. What's the difference?' People always used to say to me that Rajat is a spin basher. But if I talk about spin, picking the bowler from the hands [is key], credit goes to Freddie because he helped me a lot."
Patidar also said his preparation went beyond just hitting balls in the nets.
"It's not like that I had to go in and target just starting from ball one and ball two," he said. "I got more clarity about my role. I was pretty clear that in the middle overs if I am batting, I can maximise. I can take risks which I like the most."
'Don't need coaches driving intensity, Kohli is living it'
Nineteen seasons on, Kohli continues to embody the standards the franchise wants to uphold. IPL 2026 was his best-ever in terms of strike rate, a change he has consciously driven through the line-up beginning with that late 2024 surge Flower touched upon. It has had a knock-on effect.
"His hunger and drive, it's genuinely inspiring," Bobat said. "Seeing someone as hungry and driven, as disciplined and as ambitious as he still is, it's wonderful to witness. We don't need coaches driving intensity on standards in the field because he's living it and doing it."
For Patidar, Kohli's influence has been equally significant and personal. As a relatively new captain last year, he often found himself observing rather than speaking. The role has demanded that he speak out a lot more - which he is still learning to embrace - but he has stuck to the fundamentals of being a good observer.
"Whenever I'm around him on the field, I always notice him," Patidar said. "Whenever I have some kind of doubt regarding the leadership role or taking a decision, I always go with Virat bhai.
While Kohli remains the heartbeat of the team, Bhuvneshwar was also crucial with the ball.
"Bhuvi has been outstanding for these last two seasons," Flower said. "It's arguable that we wouldn't have had our success at all over the last two seasons if he hadn't been producing performances under pressure repeatedly. He has surprised me a little with his level of skill, his calmness under pressure, his competitiveness and his positive effect on everyone around him."
For Flower, those qualities help explain why confidence has become so deeply embedded in this RCB side. Players like Kohli, Bhuvneshwar, Hazlewood, Flower said, create an environment where calmness has become contagious.
Patidar has perhaps been the biggest beneficiary of that environment. In his first two years as captain, he has had the rare luxury of learning leadership while surrounded by some of the most experienced cricketers in the game. The lessons have come from every corner, and he has only been grateful to lap them all up.
That, ultimately, may be their most significant achievement. Beyond trophies, RCB have built a system where leadership is nurtured and standards are reinforced from within.
The hunt brought RCB their first title. The confidence to keep evolving brought them a second. And if the conversations in the hours after their latest triumph were anything to go by, they believe their final destination still lies somewhere further ahead.