Royal Challengers Bengaluru waited 17 years to win the Indian Premier League (IPL). And then, they suddenly had two trophies in two years. With the victory over Gujarat Titans on Sunday, RCB have become just the third team to have succesfully defender their IPL title, with the only other sides being Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, teams that Bengaluru have shared a rivalry with but never quite matched in terms of trophy count until now.
RCB are still a long way from equalling MI or CSK’s records though – the latter two sides have won a record five titles each. Here we take a look at the two previous IPL finals in which a team won the trophy for a second consecutive time.
2011 IPL final: CSK beat RCB by 58 runs
CSK had won the IPL for the first time in 2010 and in the next one year, the tournament went through a bit of a storm. Founder and league commissioner Lalit Modi had been ousted and the league itself tried to move away from its party-happy image. What didn’t change, though, is CSK winning the title again with a practically unchanged team, and that too after beating an RCB side that contained the marauding trio of Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli.
Murali Vijay was the star of the show, smashing 95 in 52 balls and sharing a 159-run opening partnership with Mike Hussey (63 in 45 ball). Captain MS Dhoni made a valuable contribution of 22 in 13 balls, typically providing the finishing touches and all of it let CSK finish with a score of 205/5.
This may be a par, or even below par, score in the 2026 IPL but back then, it was almost insurmountable. However, if any team could do it, it had to be RCB with their three superstar batters, right? Wrong. Ravichandran Ashwin bowled the first over and snagged Gayle for a duck off his fourth ball. He finished with figures of 3/16 and RCB huffed and puffed to a score of 147/8.
2020 IPL final: MI beat DC by five wickets
Mumbai Indians are yet to win the IPL since their last win in 2020. (BCCI Photo)
This win marked the establishment of a Mumbai Indians dynasty, and was also the last time the team won an IPL title or even looked seriously capable of doing it. The match played in Dubai in the time of Covid bubbles and empty stands. DC batted first and captain Shreyas Iyer (65 in 50 balls) was their highest scorer as they compiled a score of 156 for the loss of seven wickets. DC had been left reeling from devastating opening spells from Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah, as was often the case that season for any side that faced MI.
In response, though, DC had their own pace sensations making life difficult for MI. Anrich Nortje brought them back into the game in the 17th over by dismissing Rohit Sharma, largely thanks to a sensational catch by substitute fielder Lalit Yadav. It was young Ishan Kishan who put in the hero’s shift for MI, seeing them home with a 19-ball 33.
