RCB and the luxury of another option

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

Gujarat Titans had spent most of IPL 2026 leaning on a familiar formula: Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan scoring at the top, with Jos Buttler at No. 3. The trio combined for nearly 2,000 runs and carried their team to the final.

On Sunday night, 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. 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. Sindhu lasted only 18 balls before being 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 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 confident about his skills, his slower ones, back of the hand ones and especially yorkers."

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, growing into an all-phase bowler as the tournament progressed.

The final served as a neat summary of that evolution, with Rasikh 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. When Salt became unavailable, Jacob Bethell stepped in. When Bethell became unavailable too, the responsibility travelled further down the line.

Before the injuries arrived, Venkatesh had already spent his first season with the franchise moving through the batting order. He had finished innings, floated through different roles, been used as an Impact Player and even won a Player of the Match award. All of that meant RCB barely seemed affected by the churn at the top.

"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 batted when asked. When he came in, he was batting low. But he got an opportunity when Salt and Bethel were injured, so he was ready."

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.

His innings in the final wasn't especially pretty. It didn't need to be. Chasing 156, Venkatesh used his feet to disrupt the fast bowlers and swung his bat en route to 32 off 16, contributing to RCB stacking up 64 runs for the first wicket.

Kohli's description of the conversation before the IPL final chase explained why RCB were so comfortable making the switch. "Had a simple chat with Venky in the change room," Kohli revealed. "I just told him one thing: we need to kill the game in the Powerplay. He said, yeah, let's go. Total clarity."

After RCB lifted their second IPL trophy in two years, Patidar 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," Patidar said of Flower. "The way he handles players, not only those playing, but those not playing, the new players coming in. He spends a lot of time with every individual. I've seen a lot of players who aren't getting chances spending time in the nets with DK. Whenever they got a chance, they did it for the team."

RCB used only 16 players all season, the joint third-fewest by any team in IPL history. Yet within that group, players such as Rasikh and Venkatesh kept finding new roles. By the end of the season, Venkatesh had been a finisher, a match-winning No. 4 batter, an Impact Player and an opener. Rasikh 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.