IPL 2026 Final Recap: Kohli & bowlers shine as RCB beats GT to go back to back

In this episode of the show, Binksy, Raj and Stu look back at the 2026 IPL final between the Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, which saw RCB victorious to claim back to back titles.

We start the show by recapping our tournament predictions, which looked a lot worse thanks to Mumbai's failings and Punjab's late collapse, before we discuss a final that may well have been decided within the first few overs of the game.

It was an all-round effort from RCB, much like it has been all season, as the bowling attack of Jacob Duffy, Josh Hazelwood, Bhuvi Kumar, Rasikh Salam and Krunal Pandya chipped out the impressive GT top 3 of Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler, which meant that despite a 50 to Washington Sundar, GT was always going to have to produce something special with the ball to win the game.

A cameo from Venkatesh Iyer put RCB on the front foot, and although Rashid Khan struck twice to give GT a glimmer of hope, another Virat Kohli masterclass secured back to back titles for RCB. We discuss the consistency and balance RCB displayed all season, what another IPL title means for Virat Kohli's legacy and briefly mention where the other teams fell short.

To round out the show, we take a moment to appreciate Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's brilliant season and ponder how much different the IPL could look next year in light of Sachin Tendulkar's suggested tweaks.

We'll be back in your feed again tomorrow with a Black Caps v England Test series preview, as attention quickly turns to the longest format of the game. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. 

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0:00 Intro

0:50 Our IPL predictions revisited

2:55 RCB's balanced squad and bowlers

8:20 Virat Kohli's impact & legacy

16:45 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's season

21:00 Sachin Tendulkar's suggested tweaks

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