Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra lauded Rasikh Salam Dar and Krunal Pandya for their consistent performances in IPL 2026. RCB lifted their second IPL title after registering a five-wicket win against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Dar returned with impressive figures of 3-27 in his quota of four overs in the all-important final against GT. The fast bowler from Jammu and Kashmir accounted for Rahul Tewatia, Nishant Sindhu and Rashid Khan.
The youngster scalped 19 wickets in 12 matches of IPL 2026 at an average of 21.31 and an economy rate of 9.45.
“You won 11 games, and you got eight different Player of the Match winners. Two never got it, and this thing hurt a little. One was Rasikh Salam Dar. He is No. 1 in the uncapped bowlers’ category. Yash Dayal did extremely well last year. When Yash Dayal wasn’t there this year, one felt they might get stuck because we didn’t know how Mangesh Yadav or Abhinandan Singh would do,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
Chopra highlighted that Dar bowled an impressive spell in the summit clash against GT.
“You started with Rasikh Salam Dar in such a scenario, and the boy delivered repeatedly. He picked up four wickets in Bengaluru. I remember he bowled extremely well, but he didn’t get the Player of the Match trophy that day either. He picked up three wickets in the final as well,” Chopra elaborated.
The renowned commentator said RCB reaped rewards for backing the fast bowler in IPL 2026.
“This guy had almost given up playing cricket. He had a back injury, was out of the state team, and moved states. The Mumbai Indians worked a lot for him. They said they would enable him. The tree was planted there, and he gave the fruits in Bengaluru, but that’s the beauty of Indian cricket,” he observed.
On the other hand, the former Delhi cricketer also praised Krunal Pandya’s performances. Pandya scalped 14 wickets in 16 matches at an economy rate of 8.41, whereas he scored 226 runs in nine innings.
“The guy who doesn’t lose finals. That guy is actually Krunal Pandya. The performances were good throughout the season, but he never won the Player of the Match award. Even in this match, there was just one moment where it felt like Gujarat might start running a little, and he came there and bowled four economical overs, and picked up Jos Buttler’s wicket,” he said.
Chopra noted that the spin all-rounder got the big wicket of Jos Buttler, who was stumped by Jitesh Sharma.
“That’s a big wicket. This team has only three players. Krunal Pandya played an important role. I remember the Mumbai knock as well, and he bowled well here. If you take wickets in double digits, that means you are not overreliant on Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Josh Hazlewood. Whenever they got stuck, he scored very crucial runs as well. So these two players were very important cogs in the wheel,” Chopra observed.
RCB were able to come up with a collective effort and go all the way as all their players stepped up in different situations in the tournament.
