Royal Challengers Bengaluru head coach Andy Flower said his team was more confident in IPL 2026 after winning their maiden title in the previous season. RCB defeated Gujarat Titans by five wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Thus, RCB became only the third team after Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians to win back-to-back titles in the IPL.
RCB were able to come up with a collective effort throughout their campaign and different players stepped up for them in different situations.
“Definite differences between 2025 and 2026 campaigns. But I would also mention the 2024 season, because that was instrumental in setting our determination to do things a little bit differently. The very tough first half of 2024 gave us real clarity about certain strategic things that we wanted to employ, and it gave us the courage, almost through desperation, to take those measures. And then we’ve had 2025, where we were walking into the unknown a little, as RCB had never won the title before. So, there was a lot of tension and uncertainty around getting into playoffs and then obviously lifting the trophy. This year has felt a little bit different. I think there’s a deeper level of confidence in our squad. So, that deeper level of confidence after lifting last year’s trophy certainly made this year feel slightly different. It didn’t make it any easier, but certainly going into playoffs there was a deeper level of confidence,” Flower said.
Flower praised the experienced bowlers like Josh Hazlewood, Krunal Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for keeping their calm in pressure situations after a successful campaign.
“The other thing about our group feeling confident, is we’ve got some characters in our dressing room that inspire that level of calmness and confidence. Bowlers like Hazlewood and Bhuvi and Krunal, those guys are calm under pressure. And, you know, the pressure in the IPL is similar to the pressure that you would experience in the play-off stages of World Cups or in big Ashes matches. And having people who have been there and done it before, come through in adversity before, those are deeper, stronger levels of confidence than you might have in other individuals that hadn’t had those experiences before… So we’re lucky to have some of the personnel in our dressing room, and we’re in such a calm and positive manner,” the former Zimbabwe captain said.
RCB would aim to replicate the same show in the next season.
