73 matches and 64 days after the first ball of IPL 2026, the title race is down to its final act. Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans have been the two standout teams of the season, arriving at the summit clash through contrasting yet equally effective methods. Here are the key battles that could decide the final.
Reading the Ahmedabad surface
The final will be played on pitch #6, a mixed-soil surface that also hosted the IPL 2025 final and the T20 World Cup 2026 final. Of the three primary wickets on the square, this one has produced the lowest average first-innings score in IPL and T20I matches since 2025: 199. While Ahmedabad overall has strongly favoured teams batting first (16 wins, 8 defeats), results on this particular surface are evenly split at 3-3. The two IPL 2026 games played on this particular wicket were both won by the chasing side, with the home team bowling out KKR for 180 and RCB for 155. The square has not been used during May, which should leave it fresher than most surfaces seen during the business end of the tournament.
Move around to disrupt seamers’ new ball lengths
The final pits together the two best new-ball seam attacks of the season. RCB and GT have picked up 33 wickets each in the Powerplay, with remarkably similar numbers across most metrics. As per Cricbuzz data logs, Titans seamers have hit a good-length band on 56.6% of deliveries in the first six overs – the highest among all teams. RCB are not far behind at 51.8%. When operating in that zone, the two attacks average 23.16 and 22.29 respectively.
One way both batting units counter elite seam bowling is by refusing to remain static at the crease. GT and RCB rank first and second respectively in the use of proactive footwork – advancing down the track, backing away, moving across the stumps or going deep in the crease – against pace in the Powerplay. They do so on 16.1% and 14.4% of deliveries respectively, well above the tournament average of 9.7%.
Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal strike at over 200 when employing these movements, while Venkatesh Iyer, despite his limited time at the top, has shown a willingness to alter his position almost every second ball. Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler have been even more proactive, doing so on more than 20% of deliveries and scoring at strike rates of 188 and 196 respectively.
The tactic has had little effect on the lead Powerplay bowlers – Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kagiso Rabada – but has proved more successful against Josh Hazlewood (ER 16.50) and Mohammed Siraj (ER 14.86).
Kohli’s twin tests: Rabada and Holder
22 off 11 in Bengaluru. 21 off 8 in Ahmedabad before being dismissed. 20 off 12 in Dharamsala.
Rabada may have historically enjoyed the upper hand over Kohli, but their contests this season have largely tilted in the batter’s favour. Kohli has been willing to take risks against Rabada’s new-ball pace, attacking on the rise and unsettling the seamer from his preferred lengths.
As a result, Rabada has conceded 11.75 per over against RCB in Powerplay compared to 9.05 against the rest of the opponents. If Kohli can once again force Rabada off his lengths, Gill may have to turn earlier than planned to Prasidh Krishna or Jason Holder, who have combined for four wicketless Powerplay overs costing 48 runs this season.
Should Kohli survive the Powerplay, another challenge awaits. Holder has dismissed him in both matches where the two have crossed paths this season and he has been one of the most effective middle-overs bowlers in the tournament. Between 7 and 15, he has taken 13 wickets at 16.38 while conceding only 7.34 per over. Using his height to generate steep bounce, Holder has relied heavily on hard lengths and bouncers. More than half his deliveries in this phase have been short, yielding seven wickets at an average of 15.14, including two dismissals of a well-set Kohli.