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Dissecting possibilities of RCB defending the title in IPL 2026: A Tactical Analysis

Umesh Sharma

RCB's Virat Kohli (L), Skipper Rajat Patidar (C), and Devdutt Padikkal (R) (Source: AFP)RCB's Virat Kohli (L), Skipper Rajat Patidar (C), and Devdutt Padikkal (R) (Source: AFP)

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), under the captaincy of Rajat Patidar, will be entering IPL 2026 as the defending champions. With a title win in IPL 2025, the Red and Gold franchise lifted their first-ever trophy in IPL history after a long wait of 17 years across 18 seasons since the tournament’s inception. 

Meanwhile, there’s also a notion that, ‘winning an IPL title is hard but defending it is harder’. Considering the same notion, there will be a bit of added pressure on RCB with respect to their ‘holders’ tag. They have been through a major transition from perennial underachievers to title-holders which puts them under something extra to prove. 

Hence, here’s a tactical analysis of how the ‘no more underdogs’ RCB can defend their tag of ‘reigning champions’, lifting the title in IPL 2026. 

‘Balance over stardom’ approach in squad 

RCB came with the purse of  16.20 crores in the IPL 2026 mini-auction and spent 16.15 crores to buy just eight players as an addition in their squad for the next edition. Ex-KKR all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer happened to be the most expensive recruit for RCB at an amount of INR 7 crores, followed by Mangesh Yadav at 5.2 crores. 

The RCB think-tank at the auction table also roped in the New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy as a potential backup for the veteran and injury-prone Aussie pacer Josh Hazlewood. So, the three players were the key focus for RCB, alongside picking four uncapped Indian players at INR 30 lakhs each and England’s Jordan Cox at INR 75 lakhs. 

So, it can be assessed with RCB’s approach in lining up their squad for IPL 2026 that they went on to apply a mindset to prepare a ‘balanced’ squad instead of going behind 'Big Names'. The franchise has kept the same core of the IPL 2025’s title-winning squad. 

RCB’s squad for the tournament’s 19th edition has a defined role clarity across departments. Besides that, the bowling depth in this squad looks quite better than the previous seasons for the franchise when they failed to defend the targets on a lot of occasions. 

The ideal factors in batting line up and bowling attack

The batting and bowling departments of RCB includes a mix of abundant IPL experience and international T20 specialists. This provides them an extra cushion to come out of clutch and crucial situations in the high-stake matches like the playoffs or do-or-die games. 

Batting - A blend of stability and aggressive approach 

RCB’s batting lineup has a mix of stability from the veterans and the aggressive or attacking approach from the youngsters. The opening pair of the former skipper Virat Kohli and the explosive English batter Phil Salt is a mix of anchored mindset and aggressive batting. 

Devdutt Padikkal at number three provides the stability of left-right combination, followed by skipper Rajat Patidar at four as a spin-hitter and accelerator in the middle overs. So, their top-four is built to last the 20 overs instead of exploding early, which is very critical for the side as the defending champions. 

Following the top-four, RCB’s middle-order includes handy finishers in Tim David and Jitesh Sharma, who maintain a high strike-rate. Apart from these two, the all-rounders in the lower-middle order, Romario Shepherd and Krunal Pandya add the necessary depth. 

So, it also translates into the fact that RCB no longer collapses if they lose a few quick wickets in the powerplay. 

Bowling - The real game-changing transition after a long wait 

The bowling attack for IPL 2026 is something which makes RCB the most brutal side compared to the other teams. The bowling attack that used to be their weak link a couple of years ago has gone through a game-changing transition. 

RCB’s pace attack includes Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar as two experienced pacers. Hazlewood can deliver brilliant powerplay and productivity during the death overs, alongside Bhuvneshwar making things easy with his swing and experience in crunch situations. 

Furthermore Nuwan Thushara’s mystery sling action, followed by Yash Dayal and Rasikh Salam providing depth seems to provide more productivity to the reigning champions in their quest for the second successive IPL title. 

The addition of the Kiwi pacer Jacob Duffy will also strengthen RCB’s pace attack as he could be a potential backup in case of Hazlewood’s injury concerns. 

Conclusion: The intact mix of players makes RCB firm favourites

A deep batting lineup and an all-weather bowling unit reflects RCB’s ‘champion mindset’ while approaching IPL's next edition as the title-holders. They haven’t made any heavy changes and invested most of their trust in their IPL 2025-winning squad. 

Concluding the entire dissection, discussion, and analysis, the intact mix and strongly balanced lineup of the players in all the departments make RCB the firm favourites to win their second successive IPL trophy and defend the title.